


Rebel Redux: The Royal Flush

by Craftyboss2



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bisexual Harems?, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Harems?, F/F, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderqueer?, Lesbian relationships?, Multi, Other, Yuri?, bisexuality?, genderbent, harems?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:07:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 61,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craftyboss2/pseuds/Craftyboss2
Summary: Ren Amamiya thought he could finally relax. He had been through a tough year, living under probation while stealing hearts under the codename: Joker, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. He, as the Trickster, saved Tokyo from an amalgamation of the people's wish of guidance, Yaldabaoth.He expected to be able to live his life as freely as he wants now, but it seems fate has other things in mind for him. He is dragged to a parallel world, where not only things have changed, but he also changed himself. More specifically, into a girl.Now, as the former idol Yuki Amamiya, how will he navigate this new world? Even more so, how will she come to terms with herself and her new body?
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist?, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist?, Niijima Makoto & Persona 5 Protagonist?, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist?, Persona 5 Protagonist & Kitagawa Yusuke?, Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakamoto Ryuji?, Persona 5 Protagonist & Sakura Futaba?, Persona 5 Protagonist & Yoshizawa Sumire I Yoshizawa Kasumi?, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakura Futaba?, Persona 5 Protagonist/Takamaki Ann?, Persona 5 Protagonist/Togo Hifumi?, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Sumire I Yoshizawa Kasumi?
Comments: 16
Kudos: 54





	1. Chains of Destiny - Pursuit of the Parallel Past

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome all to my off-the-top-of-my-head hilarious shit-fic. Please try not to bash me too hard in this regard. 
> 
> This is what I've been working on. It's admittedly not starting strong into exploring what Ren would be like if he got genderswapped. However, he just got transplanted into a new body and had a little panic attack when he found out the body he's currently inhabiting is famous, which presents its own kind of problems. 
> 
> As for her looks:
> 
> She kinda looks like Mami from that shoujo manga Rent-A-Girlfriend, but she's not THE Mami. In essence, she kinda shares her looks, but she definitely does not act like Mami. Someone else is though; you'll just have to wait to see who.
> 
> Anyways:
> 
> A final word. This is a beta chapter. I won't be updating this fic for a little bit, but I'm using it to gauge reception for this fic. If I find enough people who are interested in reading it, I'll start updating it weekly right after my other fic reached a certain self-proposed chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren defeated Yaldabaoth only to get wrapped up in another conundrum, one that might arguably fluster him even more than a trashy oversized sippy cup.
> 
> He relives his life in a different perspective.

“It’s finally over. It's truly, finally over."

One Ren Amamiya stood in the van’s sunroof opening, feeling the breeze as the Phantom Thieves zipped along the highway in their van to drive him back home. Of course, they weren’t heading straight to his hometown; the gang had surprised him by picking him up in a van, and dropping it on him that Haru had reserved a hotel in Kobe where they would spend a couple of days sight-seeing before actually taking him home.

Even with the agents working for the Conspiracy tailing them, the entire team never gave a damn about their pursuers. They even left the agents sitting back where the gang picked Ren up, due to an *ahem* spark plug. They were laughing about it all the way to the highway entrance.

Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru…, and of course Morgana. He remembered the first day he was in Tokyo. He never would have realized he was in for a wild ride, and what a ride it has been. He made friends along the way, with bonds that stood many a challenge and threat.

They stole the hearts of corrupted adults, took down a Conspiracy that has roots in almost every aspect of Japanese society, found the culprit behind the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown incidents, felled a God, and saved Christmas, not exactly happening in that exact order. Though he chose to turn himself in at the end to save his friends, his friends and close confidants rallied behind him to free him from his unjust charges. He wondered what became of Igor and Lavenza. Were they perhaps searching for the next Trickster right now? 

Nevertheless, he would not trade this moment of utter happiness for anything else in the world. This experience would remain in his mind forever. _Nothing else can disturb this moment, right? Right?_

As he closed his eyes to savor the freedom and wind that blew past him, something felt off. He opened his eyes. Everything was frozen in place, the van and his friends included. He slipped back down. “Guys?! Guys!???”

No use. It seems they couldn’t hear him. They were truly frozen, unable to hear him or feel him shaking them.

Suddenly a tear in the van opened, right where Ren was sitting. He tried to grab a hold of something, but the chasm emitted a strong suction force that he got dragged into it. _What is this? Why am I falling right now?_ The last thought he had was, _I hope when I get to the bottom of this pit, I’ll have a gentle landing._ He blacked out.

  
  


* * *

A voice rang out. “Shibuya, Shibuya... Welcome to Shibuya.”

Ren groaned. He opened his eyes. Where the hell was he? He felt weird and lighter. His voice also sounded weird, sounded higher-pitched.

That moment though, all hell broke loose. 

“What. The. Actual. F#$%. Happened?” And why did he sound like a girl? He caught his reflection and gasped. 

Ren didn’t know what had happened while he was in that chasm, falling unconscious. One thing was sure. He had been changed. More specifically, he underwent a sex change. He was now a girl, with dyed blonde hair (at least what he… no, she could see visible outside the cap she was wearing, in a blouse and jeans. She also had glasses and a cap on. The thing is, she knew the glasses were fake because he did wear fake glasses himself previously and her vision was unaltered when she briefly took them off. Of course, that made her wonder why she was wearing fake glasses and a cap in the first place? Was she a delinquent or someone famous?

She shook her head. She didn’t know. She needed to find out as much information as she could; this whole situation was starting to not be funny.

“What is going on here?” She muttered, trying to get to the bottom of what happened. She turned on her phone. Immediately, a sense of dread hit her. The phone’s date read: 4/09/16. She didn’t know what had happened, but two things were sure. First, she was now a girl, for reasons yet to be determined; and two, she was in the past, or to be more accurate, she traveled back to the day that she, who used to be Ren Amamiya, got sucked into this game that Yaldabaoth (curse that oversized sippy cup) concocted, for reasons also undetermined. Of course, it led him to make some great friends along the way, but with this time reset, even he lost them now. At least he’ll be able to see them again, especially Ryuji and Ann soon. 

She sighed. _This wasn’t how I expected to be celebrating the end of my probation, by being dragged back to the start of it, in a new body and identity to boot._ She took her cap and her glasses off, her hair falling out from beneath the cap. _Blonde hair cut in the style of a pixie cut, is that what they call it? What am I, some delinquent?_ She sighs, fidgeting with her hair as she recounts what she has learned. _I’m now a girl who got sent back to the start of my stay in Tokyo, and I have no idea who caused all of this. I do know that if I find that being or god who caused all of this, I’ll punch them in the face for interrupting my quality time with my friends._

Just them, a cacophony of murmurs emerged. She looked up to see the entire train car crowding at her. She felt unnerved and rather uneasy about this sudden development. “Can I help you?” She nervously asked.

A host of voices then emerged. 

“Aren’t you Yuki Amamiya?” 

“You’re Yuki, right?

“Wow, Yuki Amamiya!?”

“Can you sign my notebook for me?”

“Wow, Yuki Amamiya in the flesh.”

She looked confused. Yuki? That’s “ _her”_ name? More concerning was the crowd of people around her begging her for her signature, oozing over “ _her”_ like some hot commodity. _Now I know what Ann must feel like on her modeling gigs._ The question was, why were they crowding themselves around _her_? “I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong person.” She, sweating bullets, trotted out the words.

The doors slid open. The crowd looked momentarily confused as she quickly slipped out of her seat and out of the subway train. She climbed the escalator and looked backward. No one had followed her from the subway car. She breathed a sigh of relief as she slid down against a pillar. Was she famous? It could certainly explain why people were crowding around her in the train car. She immediately put back on her glasses and cap. She didn’t need to attract any other people’s attention. She shuddered as she got back up and proceeded out of the station. The harsh bright light made her squint. 

Ah, Shibuya. It felt good to be back, even if she was anxious to return to whence she came, to her former identity of the boy Ren Amamiya. A car honked, as a man shouted. “Are you Amamiya-san? Get in!”

She cracked a smile. Sojiro had come to pick her up. She remembered that previously as Ren, he had to take the subway to get to Yongen-Jaya, and then find Sojiro at his cafe. He seemed nicer this time around upfront too. _Sojiro Sakura, the ladies’ man. He did tell me once that he treated women better than men._ She then frowned. It was the first time she had found the Metaverse Nav on her phone and saw Arséne. She almost expected it to pop up on her phone just about now, but nothing did. _How strange._

She got in the passenger’s seat. “Thank you, Sakura-san, for coming to pick me up.” She bowed her head; Sojiro was much nicer to her this time around, she almost could get used to it.

Sojiro started the car and pulled away from the curb. He waved his left hand. “Not a problem for a young miss like you. Plus, I promised your parents that I’d take care of you _._ Considering your past as an idol now on hiatus, I can’t simply let you wander around the city, at least for now. Maybe when you’ve gotten accustomed to living here I’d let you wander around the city, and then maybe later after dark.”

Yuki ( _damn it, I’m Yuki now, not Ren.)_ was startled. “Idol?” She did have memories of her own that wasn’t related to her previous life as Ren Amamiya

Sojiro then nodded. “Your parents and I go way back, ages ago. Anyways, your parents gave me the gist of the situation. You used to be part of an idol group. However, you and everyone in your group went on hiatus as of a month ago. You were harassed at your home by some stalker, and so you were sent out here to attend Shujin while your parents and the courts deal with the uncooperative bastard, who’s rather persistent. You also have an older sister who’s a seiyuu, huh? I guess your family comes from new money, considering you two are both in the entertainment industry. He then frowned. “By the way, when are you thinking of dying your hair back? Shujin doesn’t like their students to have any dye in their hair.

_Shit._ Yuki recalled her disguise and her dyed hair. That was why she was wearing that and had dyed hair. It was so that she’d stay unrecognizable so this girl’s stalker wouldn’t follow her to Tokyo. Yuki stammered, looking to come up with an excuse since she had just been dropped in this body without any prior context up until now. “Well, it’s been a little hectic. I had to move out of the agency dorms and go back home, then that whole thing with the stalker happened. After that, my parents notified me that they were sending me to go to school at Shujin in Tokyo, then I spent a few weeks catching up on academics and then packing to come here. Anyways, dying my hair back is… complicated.”

Sojiro dubiously asked, “How so? Can’t you dye your hair back anyway if you do get called back to the showbiz business?”

Yuki shook her head. Coming up with logical excuses when she didn’t know the background really tired her out. (She did have memories belonging to this girl, but she had little time to reference them.) “I cut and dyed my hair so I wouldn’t get recognized out here, though I’m not sure if some people on the subway recognized me earlier. I did throw them off, but I don’t know if they believed me. I just don’t need this stalker to follow me to Tokyo, since he’s been very persistent. My hair is kinda really damaged right now from repeated bleaching anyway since I’ve been in the entertainment industry for a while. I think what I’m going to do is either maintain the dye or let it grow out and then cut it. Either way, I don’t think I’m going to be able to until the latter happens, which will take months to grow to shoulder length.” That should hopefully be a good enough excuse; she hoped Sojiro wouldn’t pry any further, because honestly, she wouldn’t have any more decent excuses to give.

Sojiro looked as if he wanted to say something but he didn’t pursue it. “Well, I can see that you’re serious about not damaging your head again with hair-dying. I see your point with the stalker and the information about your agency. I assume because you’re an idol, you’ve had to keep in trend with teen fashion, and your agency has complete control over your image, which includes your looks, so I understand. I’ll make sure to bring it up tomorrow when we head to Shujin to meet the staff and teachers.

Yuki nodded. “Thank you, Sakura-san. By the way, where are you taking me?”

Sojiro smiled, but it was filled with sorrow. “You’re living with me at my house. It’ll be me, you, and my daughter. However, the latter is… complicated. She’s shy and completely isolated herself. If you can, please give her the space she needs. If not, then… become a good friend for her.” He then cleared his throat. “Your parents paid me good money to take care of you, so I made some decent accommodations available for you. Your parents also gave me money to furnish the room you’re staying in, not that I didn’t already have furnishings for you.”

Sojiro added. “They wanted to get you your own little studio apartment, but… you’re still too young. So they asked me to help with housing and feeding you. Since your parents and I are friends, I accepted.”

Yuki smiled. Futaba Sakura was indeed living at Sojiro’s house even when he first got to Tokyo the first time around. She was extremely happy in this particular instance that she was living at Sojiro’s house; it might mean that she would be able to befriend Futaba sooner than the previous time; of course, that didn’t discount the fact that Futaba remained a total shut-in and it took a lot of effort to help Futaba overcome her fear of crowds, for one thing.

  
  


* * *

After an hour stuck in traffic, they finally made it to Yongen-Jaya. Sojiro parked the car as she got out. Sojiro led the way; she perfectly knew where Sojiro’s house was, but she chose not to raise any questions if she found it on her own.

Sojiro opened the gate and then the door. “This is my house. It’s not as extravagant as your house, but it’s still home for you for the next school year. Shoes off, please.”

Yuki took off her shoes, as she stepped in. This was the fourth time she’d been in Sojiro’s house, the first time as someone staying there.

Sojiro led her upstairs to a room in the center-middle left of the hallway. She idly noted that Futaba’s room was still at the end of the hallway, evidenced by the large **KEEP OUT** tape signs she kept strapped to her door.

Sojiro opened it and presented her room. “There’s a bed, a bookshelf, a dresser and closet, a chair and a table, a lamp, and a nightstand. Your parents did send me money to help furnish your room, but I’ll leave it up to you how you’ll want to decorate or additionally furnish your room. Your luggage has already been brought up here this morning by me. I’ll be cooking dinner, so it’ll be done roughly later. I suggest you take this time to unpack and prepare your stuff for school. Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Shujin to introduce yourself, seeing as you’re a transfer student who transferred in just before the new term starts.”

Yuki nodded. Sojiro then smiled. “I’ll see you later, kid. You better be packing an appetite.”

Yuki closed her door and flopped on her bed. She cracked a very big smile. _Well, it seems my luck has finally turned around. I’m not a delinquent, and Sojiro has been nice to me since the very beginning. Time to see what I packed. No, that isn’t right. I wasn’t there mentally when I, I mean this girl, packed her stuff. Sojiro didn’t look or appear any different; I wonder why I’m the only one who’s been changed._

Yuki then realized something very important. _Ugh, I remember I’m a girl now. So there’ll probably be underwear and lingerie in my luggage. Not to mention that I’ll have to strip naked to change. This is going to be awkward._

(Ren Amamiya has always been a gentleman at this point, and though he has seen girls naked in underwear and bikinis, he hasn’t seen the vagina at this point, but he has seen breasts covered in bras when he was at the beach in the summer when Futaba joined the team. So not much actual exposure for him.)

Yuki shook her head. _No use getting nervous about it. I’ll have to get used to the fact that I’m… a girl now._ She shuddered. _Is this how Ann must feel when she gets leered on by some dudes? I even remember that in Futaba’s palace, I looked at Ann’s lingerie, which was only possible because of the heat. Ryuji got the brunt of that scorn for that though, and for that, I am eternally grateful to him._

Yuki shook her head. _I have to change my… undergarments, and even learn how to reuse the bathroom. Oh, gods, I forgot that I don’t have a * &^% down there anymore! How the hell am I supposed to do my business!?_

Yuki slapped herself in the face to snap herself out of it. _Fuck, I was about to psych myself out there in a second. I need to get unpacking._ She began looking through the suitcases, curious as to whatever was packed inside. It was mostly outfits, outfits, outfits. She had packed half of a suitcase with blouses alone, another half with skirts, and then an entirely separate suitcase for sweaters and jackets, along with nightwear. She also seemed to have packed a yukata and kimono along with her clothes and most importantly her school uniforms, though this confused her. _I was in juvenile hall at the end of last year, so I wasn’t there for New Years, but even for fireworks, they didn’t wear kimonos, only yukata._ Also on her mind: _This makes me wonder how Ann’s wardrobe is, considering she’s a model. She must have a lot more outfits than I can see right there._

“Huh, women must really like to change it up.” She, when she was still Ren, had packed only one single box of everything he needed; she, as \ Yuki, had four suitcases and a large box. The third suitcase (more of a medium duffel bag) held makeup, scarves, and berets. It also held her… undergarments. Speaking of that large box, she opened it to find… shoe boxes neatly arranged, and some supplies for… what exactly? The last suitcase (also a duffel, but smaller than the first) held some memorabilia for when this girl used to be an idol and a laptop, perfect for school and the web.

Yuki laughed. “At least I’ll have plenty of clothing to not feel bored changing it up. Though I’m worried that Ryuji and Yusuke might perv on me too this time around though.” She shuddered; just then she realized how gross that sounded and how Ann also felt at some points.

She began hanging up her clothes and folding her… undergarments away. Man, she was never going to get used to being a girl, this just was too weird for her, who used to be a dude. She wondered if she could hold herself in once she stripped down and showered, or changed.

She decided to make her bed after this, only to find that her bed was a bit shorter than the futon she used to have in LeBlanc’s attic. She looked on her phone to search for information on herself. Yep, she was inhabiting a body around 5 cm shorter. She sighed. _Well, at least I don’t look weird. I look just as attractive compared to when I was Ren, but I mean this person used to be an idol. What idol wouldn’t?_ She internally groaned at realizing she was now expected to maintain a certain level of attractiveness even as an idol on hiatus, and now has to learn how to apply makeup and the like. 

_I need to change._ Yuki looked visibly uneasy, but she managed to set a rule for herself. _Lay out the clothes and garments on my bed in an easy way to identify them, close my eyes, and then just… change. Yeah, that’ll work._ She laid out a pair of athletic sweatpants and a t-shirt, then changed while she tried her best not to open her eyes. She twirled and preened. She looked not half bad; she did realize at some point she’d have to get over that hurdle, but for today it was too soon. She’d change out of her undergarments later; she still had to take a shower, which she chose to postpone until later at night. She decided it would be best to explore the house; while she had been to Sojiro’s house plenty of times in the past, she only knew the foyer and the route to Futaba’s room. She first wanted to peek if Futaba was awake. She tip-toed her way to Futaba’s door and put her head against it. Except for the low hum of her PC setup, nothing else was discernible. _Must have passed out. I wonder if she heard Sojiro and me come back._ She then looked around. Across the hallway, there was a bathroom with a full kit and shower. _Sojiro must have another bathroom downstairs near his room._

She then made her way downstairs. There was the entrance. There was another hallway past the stairway, which must lead to Sojiro's room. Just a few steps past the stairway and past that horizontal-jutting hallway, there was a living room with an attached kitchen. The dining table happened to be situated right near the TV. Sojiro was there, cooking. Even from where she was standing, she could smell Sojiro’s curry. It was truly one of his prized creations. In 

Sojiro heard her coming in. “Oh, Amamiya-kun. You’re still quite early. I take it you finished unpacking?”

Yuki shook her head. “I’ve unpacked most of it and organized some things, but there are still some other things I have to unpack. I want to arrange those separately since I’m not entirely sure how to do so. I was hoping I could get to explore the neighborhood while you finish cooking. _I honestly already know my way around, but Sojiro would find it suspicious that I knew my way around without even pretending to explore._

Sojiro stroked his beard. “Alright, you can go. Just make sure to leave your phone number so I can call you when I’m done cooking. Also, if you need me, here’s my phone number too. Don’t be out too late.”

Yuki promised Sojiro she wouldn't, then headed back out to put her shoes on and headed out. The sun was just beginning to set. The sun was beginning to set. She figured she’d pop by Takemi’s clinic, or the batting cages to work off some steam. As she walked around, she could notice how heavy her chest area was. She noticed it earlier too, but frankly, she was still too freaked out earlier that she was a girl in conjunction with that crowd of fans in the subway earlier, possibly following her that she paid it little mind. _Great, just another reminder of who I am now and another… aspect of my femininity that I need to ignore if I don’t want to look crazy in public. At least until I’ve gotten used to being a girl._

She stopped by Takemi’s clinic. It looked rather menacing the first time he came here, but she knew how kind Takemi was, even if she had been a little rude to her as Ren the first time around when they had just started the clinical trials. She opened the door. _I wonder if I can form the Death confidant earlier this time around._

Tae Takemi looked unperturbed as usual, sitting in the reception desk. _Glad to see someone hasn’t changed one bit._ Her eyelids gazed at Yuki’s. “Can I help you, miss?”

_Yikes, she’s just as scary as I remember she was._ She quashed her fear of Tae, as she said, “Could I get an appointment? My body feels uncomfortably lethargic. _Ugh, the same excuse this time around. I need to be better at making excuses._

Tae cast a smirk at her, then said, “Please head to the examination room.” _Uh, what? The first time around, Tae was uneasy the first time around. I wonder what changed._

Yuki looked intrigued by this sudden development and headed in. Takemi soon followed and gestured to the patient’s chair. “Sit.”

Yuki sat down as Takemi pulled up a different chair. “So you feel lethargic, huh? Can you give me some context?

Yuki tried her best to stammer. “Well, it started only recently. Ever since a month ago, I’ve suddenly felt more tired. I used to be pretty active and fit with activities, but now that those activities are no more, I feel even more tired than if I was still doing those activities. I’ve been trying to work out to see if that would help, but it hasn’t.

Takemi gave a “huh” sound. “What kind of workout do you partake in?”

Yuki internally cringed as she realized she was clueless on how to answer. “Um, ...pilates, yoga, and jogging, mostly.” She just spouted whatever came to her mind at that moment.

Takemi then sported a wide smile. “Right. Well, I can see that you seem to exercise pretty regularly. Have you had a decent sleep schedule or diet?”

Yuki couldn’t help but feel flabbergasted. “Well, um, only recently I’ve started adjusting my sleep schedule. I used to have less time to sleep up until recently. My diet recently has been starting to get better, though previously it wasn’t.”

Takemi then laughed. “I see, Yuki Amamiya. I see.”

Yuki then realized that Takemi had been setting her up. She already knew who she was. “Busted. How did you know it was me? I’m pretty sure I changed up my looks to stay incognito, though I guess my face is still recognizable.”

Takemi then waved her clipboard. “I’m a regular at Sakura-san’s cafe. About a week ago, he mentioned he was taking a girl in because of a stalker. Couple that with the information you told me and the news that a certain idol had just gone on hiatus as of last month and was being plagued by a nasty stalker… well, it doesn’t take too much to connect the dots. I do admit I wasn’t a hundred percent sure until you gave me that information. Well, I will commend your effort to stay under-the-radar. You do look very different compared to the pictures of you on the net, but that face… it’s not easy to mask that from the public. Maybe try using a face mask; it helps with concealing the lower part of your face, and you won’t inhale any nasty pollution. A win-win.”

  
Takemi then got serious. “Hey, I have a proposition. I’ve been looking for a test subject for one of my trials recently. You certainly have the physique I’ve been looking for, even if you are a _former_ idol. Even if your diet and sleep schedule have yet to adjust to living a normal life, the fact remains that I need help. If you help me with this, I’ll give you access to more _experimental_ medicine I have lying around that could help you with adjusting to your civilian life. Idol life, as I remember it, is tough on adults, even more so on kids. Even if you’re on hiatus as of now… it must be rough for you to adjust. The prior constant maintenance of a slim diet and workout… I’ll also supply you with better vitamin supplements to help you than what you can find in the typical pharmacy, and give you routine checkups regularly. What do you say?

Yuki smiled. _Broke my record. Now I wonder if I can establish a bond with Sojiro earlier as well too._ “Dr. Takemi, it is most certainly a deal. I’ll need all the help to adjust to living a normal life, going to school, and such. At least I won’t have to worry about my health while I live a more casual life.” 

As the contract in her mind formed, Yuki was relieved and surprised that she hadn’t even met anyone from the Velvet Room before making the contract.

Dr. Takemi cracked a smile. “Alright, I’ll message you when I’ll need help.

* * *

Yuki got out of the clinic and was surprised to see that the sun had set further down. She checked her phone. No messages from Sojiro yet, but it was best she headed back before it got dark out. She walks back along to Sojiro’s house.

“Sakura-san, I’m back!

Sojiro responded. “Dinner is almost ready! Sit at the dining table. I’ll be ready in a jiffy.” She made her way to the dining table and sat down. Sojiro finished stirring his curry and made his way with a plate. “Hang on, let me give my daughter her meal first. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Yuki watched as Sojiro carried a meal tray up the stairs and out of her sight. _I guess Sojiro was right about her still keeping herself locked up in that room. It’s still a couple of months behind July when I previously knew about Futaba._ She sighed. _I wonder if I can help Futaba, but maybe it’s too early to push things. Right now, I just barely met Sojiro, and I’m staying under his care._

Sojiro came back down. “Sorry for the wait. I’ll get our portions.” He strode back to the pot and came back with two plates of curry rice. Just smelling it made Yuki salivate. _Weird, I already know how Sojiro’s curry is, yet I’m still salivating. Must be a hint of nostalgia along with this body not having tasted this curry before._

They began eating, the clinking of spoons and forks masking their hunger. 

Once the plates were cleaned, Yuki smiled. _Just like the good old days._ She commented, “That was excellent curry. Thank you for the meal.”

Sojiro smiled. “Thank you. It’s a staple of my cafe, along with my coffee.”

Yuki nodded. “You own a cafe? By the way, that curry had hints of nutmeg in it. Was that your secret ingredient?”

Sojiro looked impressed. “I’m surprised you could guess the ingredient I used. I change it up daily though.”

Yuki nodded. _Time to ask ‘that’ question._ She had a gut feeling this would turn out well _._ “Could you teach me how to make that curry, and maybe the coffee too?”

Sojiro had a look of shock. “You want to be a barista, not to also mention be my apprentice?”

  
Yuki shrugged. “Sure, I know first-hand just how much learning how to cook is very important, and I haven’t tasted anything like your curry in ages. Back when I was still an idol, I didn’t get the chance to eat as much as I have today, not to mention that I usually skimped on meals to keep within my agency’s diet guidelines for me.” This she gleaned from the girl's own memories. _Though I bet Sojiro’s going to be surprised when he starts teaching me how to make curry._

Sojiro smiled and nodded, extending his hand out for a handshake. “Alright, little miss, you win. I’ll teach you how to make my coffee and curry in exchange for you helping out at the cafe I own.” Yuki smiled and shook his hand. “It’s a deal, Sakura-san.”

As the contract for the Hierophant arcana formed, she became nostalgic about her previous relationship with Sojiro as Ren. _This time around, I even was on his good side from the start this time around._

Sojiro then cleared his throat. “You can call me Boss. I expect you to use that while you’re working in the cafe.” Yuki saluted. “Yes, Boss.”

Sojiro hid a smile as he said, “I’ll be cleaning up here. You make sure you get ready for tomorrow. We’re heading straight over to Shujin straight in the morning, so get a good night of sleep. There’s a bathhouse near my cafe or you could use the shower here, your choice. Just make sure you have some cash on you if you do go to the bathhouse.”

Sojiro took the dishes and headed back to the kitchen. Yuki headed back to her room.

  
  
  


As she sat on her bed, wondering whether to go to the bathhouse or not, her mind lingered on something. _When I made the confidant with Takemi, there were different circumstances this time that led me to make those bonds. Same with Sojiro. At least they didn’t look any different. I wonder what else has changed._

Yuki then flushed. _Anyways, what should I do? I would like to go to the bathhouse, but at the same time, I need to remain on the down-low if this girl’s stalker finds out where she (well, I) am. Additionally, I don’t exactly feel comfortable yet going to the public bath, even if there is a separate women’s bath._

Yuki shook her head. _Ugh, I should just use the shower here. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have the courage to use the public baths. Maybe. Though I highly doubt I’ll get used to the female anatomy this body now presents me with._

She gathered some… undergarments and laid them on the bed, grabbed a towel and a sponge, and headed out. She noticed that Sojiro was kind enough to have stocked the bathroom with essential toiletries, including toothpaste, a brush for her, and one for Futaba (she guessed), shampoo, conditioner, soap, and skin moisturizer. He even bought some facial cleanser for her. _Huh, just how much money did this girl’s parents send Sojiro just to make her comfortable?_

She shook her head. Ren Amamiya now inhabited this girl’s body, and it was weird referring to the previous owner in the third person. It’s _her_ body now, anyways. 

She unstripped, closing her eyes. Stepping into the shower stall, she turned on the shower. She began scrubbing with her soapy sponge everywhere except her… private parts. Not yet. 

Once she finished, she let the shower run for a little bit. She steeled herself for the hardest part: washing her female body parts and not getting turned on. If she could do this, then she knew that she would do fine in regards to her new body, not needing to keep her eyes closed. This was the true test of wills: not getting turned on by _her_ own body, as someone who was a dude previously. She began gently scrubbing her chest area, her breasts to be more exact. It didn’t help that this body was rather well-endowed in that regard; she had rather perky ones, though she was sure Ann had bigger. 

As she scrubbed here and there, there were a few sensitive spots where she couldn’t help but moan a little, but all-in-all, she did a pretty decent job of not turning on herself. _This is the easier part, now comes to scrub… down there. Sex education did say that the vagina was very sensitive, so I should be gentle. Hopefully, I don’t hit the G spot and cause an orgasm. The last thing I want is Sojiro deciding that maybe he shouldn’t have taken me in because I was acting all kooky in his shower._

She gently started scrubbing down there. Between scrubbing and the shower water running, she was thankful that she had something to snap her out of her indecisiveness. She then touched her vagina accidentally. It was sensitive, but thankfully not enough for her to elicit any sort of sexual reaction. She finished bathing and stepped out, wrapping the towel around her chest. She opened her eyes. 

“Well, that wasn’t so bad…” She stopped as she could instantly see her bust jutting out. Even with the towel, it was still quite noticeable how prominent her breasts were. 

She looked in the bathroom mirror. She looked gorgeous that even she lost herself for a moment as she stared at her reflection. She shook her head. She headed back to her room to dry her hair with a blowdryer, before looking at her bed.

Various varieties of undergarments laid on the bed, but she took notice of her selection of bras and panties. As she undid the towel, she grabbed a pantie and began slipping it up. She threw her clothes that she wore that afternoon into a collapsible laundry basket. She then looked at her bras.

Now that she was a girl, she had the more complex choice of whether or not she wanted to go commando with just a nightgown and pants. If she decided to go get a glass of water in the middle of the night and Sojiro happened to come in as well, then there would be a lot of awkward explaining. If she wore a bra she wouldn’t have to worry about that.

Yuki fidgeted with her fingers. _Well, what does the net say?_ She looked on her phone to see opinions on the matter, but it was pretty much split. _Aaaagh, screw it, I’m going to be as comfortable as I can. Screw the possibilities; I’m not wearing that kind of harness to bed; it’s already difficult enough feeling two breasts protrude from your chest while awake, and I can’t imagine doing the same on the bed. Best make myself as comfortable as possible._

She laid on the bed, thinking back to that afternoon. To think one moment, he was in a van with his friends celebrating his return home by driving him back (but not before going to do some sight-seeing), then the next he was stripped from that happy moment and placed into a girl’s body, in the past right when he first came to Tokyo. He wondered if this was some sort of alternate timeline or some Kingdom Hearts bullshit constructed in real life; even the way she established confidants with Sojiro and Takemi this time around were affected by different circumstances. She wondered if this time around because she was here under different circumstances if things would also be different, even though Takemi and Sojiro didn’t act or look any different. 

As she drifted to sleep, she wondered how the gang is in this reality if they were as changed as he was right now as Yuki Amamiya, idol now on hiatus. She also wondered what her position in the Velvet Room now amounted to, as she closed her heavy eyelids.

* * *

As she dreamed, she could feel a tug. She decided to follow it. She woke up in an unfamiliar room. Her eyes snapped on to the old man seated across from me

That man’s voice rang out. “Welcome to the…”

That was all he managed to get to before Yuki lunged for Igor. In her eyes she saw Yaldabaoth, once again manipulating her from a position of implied trust. “Yaldabaoth!!!”

Two voices rang out. “Master!!! Restrain yourself, Trickster!”

Yuki couldn’t recognize one of the voices, but the other she knew only recently, from the future. “Lavenza??? So then… you must be the real Igor.”

Igor waved his hand. “Please sit. I forgive you for what happened just now. It only naturally stands that you would be wary of me when I called you in here. You must have been reminded of when that God, the Holy Grail, deposed and sealed me away, and impersonated me. I truly apologize for that; however, as you can see, the Holy Grail this time around has not gotten the better of me. I saw fit to not allow Yaldabaoth to subvert the Velvet Room this time, along with my two attendants. You have already met Lavenza, but I will allow my other attendant to introduce himself."

The male Velvet attendant standing opposite Lavenza bowed. “Greetings. I am Felix. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss Amamiya.” Felix was relatively tall, with the silver and yellow eyes characteristic of all Velvet Room attendants. He donned a blue hat and a blue uniform, but he had piercings in his ears, along with ring piercings in his nose. Yuki thought he looked a bit too much like a rock star, if not for the silver hair and the 1900s bellboy costume.

Lavenza elbowed him. “You do know she was my previous guest, and _she_ was he in another reality. Even if that accursed god robbed me of all that time with him by splitting me in half and sealed away Master Igor, I still spent time with him as Caroline and Justine, and their memories of him also constitute my memories.”

Felix muttered. “I wonder when you were split in two if you were twice as annoying as now.”

Lavenza grew furious. “I heard that, brother. Should I fight you, or will you concede?”

Felix snorted. “Please. I’m certainly no slouch in that department. And I can always call on Margaret to come to help me. Even if Elizabeth is gone, I’m sure Margaret would love harassing you right now.”

Lavenza and Felix bickered on. It was hard for Yuki to not feel as if she was a spectator to a slowly-emerging train wreck. She would admit that she found their bickering with somewhat of a morbid fascination, considering each wields power far greater than hers at the moment.

Igor cleared his throat. “Lavenza, Felix, back to the subject at hand. We don’t have plenty of time left to help our dear Trickster for tonight.”

Lavenza and Felix muttered, “Sorry, Master.” They both bowed. Yuki took this as an opportunity to get some answers.

“What happened to me? I thought my journey as the Trickster was over last time around, but it seems now that I’ve just been dragged back to the start, albeit in a different body. Is this a different reality?”

Igor crossed his fingers. “The explanation will be long, but we should have enough time to fully answer whatever queries you still have in the time left. Are you sure?”

Yuki leaned forward. “Absolutely. Please, Igor, tell me EVERYTHING.”


	2. Tokyo, Beta 1.22474487139

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren gets some much-needed information from Igor, Lavenza, and Felix about this new reality.
> 
> Ren, now Yuki, is introduced to Shujin. However, there's a bunch of new things happening. For once, why didn't she and Ryuji get transported to the Metaverse? And why is Ann acting mean towards her?
> 
> She meets Haru and Kasumi on the rooftop and forms a bond with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS FOR ROYAL! Don't read if you haven't played Royal yet.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait! I have finally returned with a new chapter. Be prepared for some ultra-wacky stuff!
> 
> Enjoy reading!

Velvet Room - ???

Igor extended his arms in welcome. “My dear Trickster, where would you like me to start first?”

Yuki was unamused. “How about this world, for instance?”

Igor smiled. “Of course, but first allow me to introduce the body of the girl you’re inhabiting. Her name is Yuki Amamiya, and she, like you, Ren Amamiya, was deemed by this world and by me to have the potential to save it, as she is this world’s Trickster, much like you were.”

Igor drummed his fingers on the table. “She was truly a magnificent Trickster. In this reality, Yaldabaoth was unable to breach the Velvet Room, and thus her journey was unhindered by sabotage. Alas, even when she confronted the God of Control, she was unable to sway the public, the masses still distorted. Thus, she was unable to awaken to her full power. Nevertheless, she was able to depose the God of Control, but not without a heavy cost. By the time she managed, Tokyo and Japan had already been irreversibly fused with Mementos, and her friends had perished in the process of fighting. When I next met her in the Velvet Room, I offered her the option of reliving her entire journey, for if she did so, there would be a chance that the outcome would not occur again. That being said, I was unable to promise her that everything would have remained the same.”

Yuki crossed her arms. “I see… so this should have been her second chance. However, that begs the second question: why am I possessing her body? It was her wish that led to this.”

Igor contemplated. “There is a chance that when I enacted this last failsafe measure, in another reality, your World Arcana resonated. As to why, I can only assume that because you yourself had previously vanquished the evil lurking in Mementos, that when she agreed to my offer that in your reality, your World Card resonated with that wish, and sought to aid it by handing you the reins, in a manner of speaking. I am surprised myself that this occurred; only once did I offer my assistance to two similar yet different people living in different realities, one boy and one girl. However, both of them found the meaning to life, and awoke to a far greater power than you previously possessed in the form of the World Arcana.”

Yuki, eyes wide open, looked at Igor with an air of incredulousness. “Alternate realities? Body-swapping? Time rewinds? The next thing you’ll be telling me is that I’m going to lose Arséne.”

Igor only looked at her. Yuki shrank backward. “No way… are you saying that’s actually going to happen!? He’s me!”

A voice rang out in her head. _Thou hast not to worry._

Arséne’s apparition appeared out of thin air, facing her. _I am Thou, and Thou art I. Though Thou may not be thyself any more, Thou still possesses thine own qualities of being a gentleman thief, or in this instance, a lady thief. Even if thou may not possess thine as thou’s Persona, thine shall always be with you in spirit._ Yuki nods to Arséne to acknowledge his words; Arséne tips his hat as he fades away.

Yuki looked to Igor. “So if Arséne isn’t my original Persona anymore, can you give me some information on who this girl’s starting Persona is?”

Igor shook his head. “Unfortunately, you will have to find out yourself, if you choose to set on the path of the Trickster. My attendants and I have already intervened further than what we would normally be able to, which means we have overstepped our boundaries. The limit at how we are to assist you is to fill you in into your new circumstances, and offer you assistance in this new tribulation, should you accept. Will you embark on this journey once more?”

Yuki sighed. “I don’t think I never had a choice in the first place. That being said, I’m anxious to get my other questions answered.”

Yuki gestured to Felix. “He’s her attendant, right? That explains who he is; however, Lavenza, why are you here?”

Lavenza was about to open her mouth when Felix beat her to the punch. “You might laugh at this, but when she heard that her precious little Trickster was transplanted into this reality, she immediately followed like a moth to a flame. I guess you, Ren Amamiya, really made an impression on her for her to swoon after you like this.”

Yuki grinned. “Well, she did say that she loved me.”

Felix’s eyes bulged out. “So she has fallen into the same conundrum as Margaret, Elizabeth, and Theodore. The pleasure of sin and the sanctity of romance… are we Velvet attendants forsaken to being tempted by such desires?”

Lavenza was silent for once. Yuki turned her attention to Igor. “Anything else I should need to know about? And why is the Velvet Room different? Is this a JUMBO JET or something? I can feel something like turbulence? I do like the seats, though.”

Igor laughed. “Trickster, your Velvet Room reflects the inner state of your heart. Since it pulled you from the end of your journey, it naturally reflects the inner state of your heart at that moment, hence why the state of your Velvet Room resembles an airplane.”

Igor smiled, continuing. “Trickster, any last questions you wish to ask before the throes of sleep envelop you once more?”

Yuki nodded. “Now since Yaldabaoth has not occupied the Velvet Room and is not spreading the MetaVerse Nav app around, how will I reach Mementos and the various Palaces? Will it be more difficult than using the app? Also, is Morgana still going to be created despite the lack thereof of finding me?”

Igor looked at Yuki. “Excellent questions, Trickster. All I am willing to divulge is that there will be a different method for how you gain access to the MetaVerse. Not to worry, the method of accessing Mementos won’t be made any more difficult. As for Morgana…”

Lavenza spoke up. “Since Morgana had been made in your reality with the intent to find and guide you, my Master had seen fit to grant Morgana at a… later time in this reality. However, considering your past endeavors, Master…” She looked at Igor.

Igor nodded. “I have decided that he will be of valuable assistance to you. Considering your affinity with Morgana, he’ll be here the next time you come here. However, I’ve decided that you will need to come here of your own will.” He has a key floating in his hand. It floats over to Yuki’s hand and drops. She clasps it; it reminds her of the key she got from Lavenza in her own reality, the day before she left Tokyo to go back home.

Lavenza added, “The key in your own reality didn’t come with you, so the Master saw fit to give you a new key. This was truly how things were supposed to go in your reality had it not been for Yaldabaoth deposing my master.”

Igor nodded. “Now, for one final thing, Trickster. I will allow you to choose which Velvet Room Attendant shall accompany you on this journey. I have allowed Lavenza to appear simply because of her status as your previous attendant. Felix has been Miss Yuki’s attendant for the past year of this reality.”

Yuki sighed. “Do I have to choose? Can’t I choose both of them?”

Igor stroked his chin. “If that is what you truly want, then I will allow it. We will discuss their respective roles at another time.” The cabin intercom crackled to life. “Ah, it seems our time is up. Trickster, descend back into sleep.”

* * *

Yuki woke up. _Guess that means I’m up for another year of shenanigans with the Metaverse._

She fumbled around, trying to dress up. It was not her fault that she wasn’t accustomed to this. The previous day he had just been transplanted into a girl’s body, for heaven's sake. Thinking about this, he remembered sex education back in middle school. They had talked about the male reproductive system and the female reproductive system, but nothing lingered in his mind so much as something that girls experience. It had been called “periods.” Apparently, during a woman’s puberty forward, there was a monthly regimen where their womanly private parts leaked blood.

Her eyes widened. Oh, gods, she has to deal with that now? What does she have? She rustled around; she has tampons and pads, washable as well as disposable pads. She looked closely at what she had to do; she had a disposable pad yesterday, but which was more effective? She searched the net (she figured that she’d be consulting the internet for a lot of these womanly issues from now on). She opted for the pad; she had no inclination to fist a tampon up her private part, being a complete novice. She strapped it, put on her panties, and then put on her school uniform.

Someone knocked on her door. She said, “Coming.” She got ready and then opened it. 

Sojiro, in his white suit and fedora, stood there. “Jeez, I was wondering what that racket was there for. You ready?” He looked her over. “Good, it seems the uniform fits you. Let’s get going. I don’t want to take too long.”

She followed him downstairs, and out the door to his car. Another 30 minutes of languishing in the car. _This feeling is familiar._

They got to Shujin. She wasn’t going to lie, she felt a bit nervous even though ironically, this time, she had nothing to fear this time around. _Well, there is the fact that my hair is all blonde now._

Sojiro noticed her lagging. “What’s the matter?”

Yuki got startled. “Ack! Nothing… just nerves, I guess.”

Sojiro sighed. “Anyways, just let me do all the talking. You okay there?”

Yuki nodded, throwing up her hands. “Yep, doing better now!” She proceeded to follow Sojiro to the principal’s office.

Principal Kobayakawa was there, along with miss Kawakami. _At least some things never change._ She hid a smile as Sojiro filled out some paperwork.

Kawakami pointed at her hair. “Principal Kobayakawa, is it okay for her to-?

Principal Kobayakawa cut her off. “First of all, Ms. Kawakami, read the news. Secondly, I think I remembered telling you who our newest transfer student was and the circumstances surrounding her. Finally, her parents sent me an email, in which they explicitly stated that her privacy and her current appearance as a deterrence were of the utmost importance. _More like this girl’s parents either bribed him or threatened him with a lawsuit if he raised anything about her appearance._

Sojiro scratched his head, clearing his throat. “It looks like you guys are already aware of her situation already; that makes everything a lot easier for both parties.”

Principal Kobayakawa nodded. “Sakura-san, as her guardian, please keep an eye on her. We’ll keep this information confidential inside the school; however, we can not control her activities outside. If she accidentally gets discovered outside the school, then everything will be for naught.”

Sojiro nodded. “I already informed her about it. It helps that she seems to be rather proactive in that regard.”

Principal Kobayakawa gestured. “This is Miss Kawakami. She will be her homeroom teacher.”

Kawakami nodded. “My name is Sadayo Kawakami. This is your Student ID.” She puts it on the desk; strangely nothing was underneath it. She retrieves it; yep, it was her spitting image looking back at her.”

Sojiro looked exasperated. “Now that I’ve finished all the paperwork, do you mind if we leave? I have a cafe I have to run.”

Principal Kobayakawa held up a pudgy hand. “Wait just a minute, Sakura-san. I have something to inform Miss Amamiya-san about. Miss Amamiya, know that you have been given a rare exception for this case, based on your circumstances in the outside world. I urge you to not abuse this privilege of yours. Additionally, we have seen fit to pair you with a fellow Shujin student to guide you around. He is the student vice-council president and will be there to help you after the Morning Assembly tomorrow onwards. Please do not be late for school.”

* * *

The entire ride back, Yuki was silent. Nothing deviated from the first time around, aside from that little maid flyer not showing up. Also, who was this student vice-council president? Ren never had to deal with this; usually, he was inundated with threats of expulsion or fear from the students.

Sojiro asked her, “What did you think of the school?”

Startled, she replied, “Well, I’m happy that they gave me this exception, but it’s like my parents either donated to the school or privately threatened him for the Principal to make that decision. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure my hair color would not have gotten a pass.”

Sojiro sighed. “It’s something I’ve noticed. If not for your parents and them explaining your current precarious situation, you would have been forced to dye your hair.”

The car radio blared to life. Sojiro groaned. “Uuugh. Traffic is not moving at all… You’re taking the train starting tomorrow. 

The Newscaster spoke. “... And now back to today’s top stories. A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all of-”

Sojiro had his eyes wide open. “...Another accident? So that’s why it’s been so crowded. There’s been a lot of those lately.” He gestured his left hand. “There was a really sad one just last month… It happened before you came here. If I remember right, they both survived, but one of them hasn’t woken up yet. Her parents have gotta be just…”

The Newscaster interrupted Sojiro as he spoke. “All traffic around Shibuya Station is being redirected due to the accident, so drivers should expect jam-packed streets.”

Sojiro looked annoyed. “Oh, come on!”

* * *

By the time they got back to Yongen-Jaya, it was pretty apparent Sojiro wouldn’t be able to open his cafe that day. Sojiro only sighed in exasperation; Yuki didn’t know anything she could say.

Sojiro looked at her. “Don’t worry about me; I don’t turn that much of a profit from the cafe anyways. You’ll start your training soon, I haven’t forgotten about our deal.”

They had gotten dinner on the way back, and ate at the dinner table silently, Sojiro only pausing to go ahead and bring a portion for Futaba upstairs.

They finish eating. Yuki offered to wash the dishes, but Sojiro insisted on at least helping her. What ended up was that they were washing dishes, both of them not making any small talk.

She says good night to Sojiro and heads back to her room. She then prepares to take a bath before heading to bed, contemplating one thing.

What else is different?

_If only she knew._

* * *

First day of class. She rolled out of her bed and started changing into the school uniform, making sure to brush her teeth. Ren didn’t know anything about make-up or anything, so he left that aside. No matters, Ann would probably want to get her hands on her at some point to dress her up and whatnot.

As she brushed her teeth, Yuki briefly wondered if the same thing would happen this time around, her and Ryuji accidentally traipsing into the Metaverse, but then she remembered. The MetaNav app wasn’t on her phone, so how was she going to be able to get into Mementos, much less Kamoshida’s Palace? Does Kamoshida’s Palace even exist? Is he even an abusive, perverted teacher this time around?

Her phone rang. She picked up. Sojiro was on the other line. “Are you awake yet?” 

Yuki affirmed yes. Sojiro responded. “Good. Come to LeBlanc. It’s near the bathhouse if you haven’t found that yet. Two alleys down. I have your breakfast ready. Good thing you woke up this early.”

Sojiro hung up. She grabbed her stuff and headed out to LeBlanc. As expected, Sojiro already opened his cafe, and a plate of steaming rice and curry with coffee was sitting on the countertop. She hopped on (she was a couple of cms shorter than when she was Ren but she was still tall for a girl.)

Yuki dug into the curry. Sojiro’s curry made you overlook the fact that it wasn’t meant to be a breakfast food. “Chicken katsu curry, with a hint of yogurt and honey.”

Sojiro laughed. “In all my years, I never expected someone to be able to guess my curry ingredients. You’re probably the second to achieve such a feat consecutively.” 

Yuki took a sip of the coffee. “Blue Mountain, finely ground. Perfect.”

Sojiro chuckled, stroking his beard. “Are you sure you don’t have any more surprises hidden up your sleeve?”

Yuki smiled. “Oh no Boss, nothing else.”

Sojiro raised his eyebrow. “Are you a psychic or something? If you hadn’t just moved to Tokyo, I could have sworn that you came by this cafe before, but I don't remember someone like you being one of my customers.”

Yuki smiled genuinely. “Ah well… that’s a secret. I will tell you that you’re correct, in a sense. Thanks for everything, Boss.” She got off the stool and made her way to the door. 

Sojiro called out, “Hang on… did you remember to bring your lunch money with you?”

Yuki smiled. “Got it with me!”

Sojiro nodded. “Excellent. Off to school with you. I don’t want to hear the school complaining that you’re late.”

Yuki nodded and exited the cafe. “Now… to Aoyama-Itchome and Shujin.” That reminds her; wasn’t the train timetables drastically changed today because of yesterday’s train incident?

She shook her head; if she lingered here, she’d be late. She headed off, not remembering one crucial item she left in her room.

* * *

The first time Ren made his way to Shujin, he was understandably a little lost, finding the line to Aoyama. As Yuki, she was all too accustomed at this point to get lost. When she got to Shibuya while walking to her transfer, she saw a reporter chatting it up with an officer, crowds of people gathering around an officer making an announcement, but she didn’t linger. She headed to the Teikyu building and boarded the subway train for Aoyama.

She forgot from the last time around it rained that morning. It was a shame that she didn’t remember to prep and bring an umbrella; she should have been smarter about that, considering her position. She sprinted from the subway entrance to a nearby store awning. She looked outwards; the rain was still not letting up just yet. Just then she saw something. She squinted and then gasped. She saw Ann, but she was… different. She had an umbrella by her side, but easily the most important thing was her hair. Ann never had her hair down ever in the previous timeline; she doesn’t even remember if she ever saw Ann with her hair down back when she was Ren. She remembered when they first met; he was so stunned by her that she found him gazing at her. This time around, it looked even more mesmerizing watching her; Ann in her timeline was already a stunning person to look at, but with her hair down, she looked… timeless, like in one of those old Western movie flicks.

A car pulled up besides Ann. Yuki tensed; that must be Kamoshida. Sure enough, his stupid little mug showed itself when he rolled down the window. She was too far away to hear what Ann and Kamoshida were saying. She got closer, but Ann said something that chilled Kamoshida to the core; she could see Kamoshida’s face scrunch up before he rolled up the window and pulled away.

Yuki had no idea what the hell just happened, but she considered it a win. Ann had somehow spooked the hell out of Kamoshida that he voluntarily left. She internally clapped for her; Kamoshida was a massive dirt-bag, considering everything he’s been accused of in the previous timeline that she knew of.

Ann continued walking, before noticing Yuki. She then walked over to Yuki.

Yuki didn’t know what to say. At first, she wanted to say hi, but her tongue froze. Somehow the way Ann approached her seemed more hostile towards her.

Ann studied her. Yuki did seem a little self-conscious. “Hi…”

Ann squinted. “I haven’t seen you around before. What’s your name?”

Yuki blurted, “Yuki Amamiya…” This was preposterous; when she was Ren, he was smooth and ever the charismatic joker, and now she feels tongue-tied by someone who sucked at acting. _Hang on, this is an alternate reality; does this mean that everyone is different in some regards? I don’t think Kamoshida was different though; the same thing almost happened as last time._

Ann’s eyes briefly widened before closing. “That’s strange… I heard about an idol with your name a while ago. It said she had gone into hiatus… and that she had an incident. I thought you were that idol, but that…” She gestured at Yuki’s blonde pixie cut. “That’s so not her. She had long, dark curly hair. She also has a similar figure to you, but she would have never dyed her hair blond, of all colors.”

Yuki laughed nervously. “Yeah… parents let me do this. They got the school and the principal to ‘okay’ it too.”

Ann waved her hand. “Whatever… just don’t poach the student vice-council president. All I’m asking from you.”

Yuki tilted her head in confusion. Ann looked at her. She stepped closer. Yuki took a step back. “You better not… or else. I’m going to make your life miserable if you do…”

Yuki threw up her hands. “All right! I yield!”

Ann nodded. “Good, I hope we can become friends, Amamiya-san.” With that, she walked off.  
  


Yuki collapsed against the wall of the store. _The hell was that? She almost gave me a heart attack. Poaching someone… oh. She meant romantically. But why?_ She takes a look at herself in the glass. _Oh. I guess I can see why. But why is Ann acting this way? She wasn’t jealous of anything in the previous reality; is this some kind of alternate worldline bullshit? Who’s the student vice-council president anyways?_

Yuki noticed the rain stop. Strangely enough, Ryuji didn’t come running by. Yuki never saw him while she was occupied with Ann; she almost missed that lovable dork at this point. 

She shook her head and looked at her phone. _No MetaNav app, I’m a girl, my whole situation with Sojiro is different, Ann with her hair down looked to be more in the mood of “I’m about to kill anyone who steals my boyfriend,” and Ryuji is nowhere to be seen this morning. Just what the hell is going to happen to me? I can’t even predict anything. Shit, I’m almost late._

Shaking her head, Yuki walks the rest of the way to Shujin. She walks in, traces the steps to the faculty office, and finds Kawakami in there, drinking a cup of coffee. Kawakami had eyebags; being a maid must be tough for her if she even was moonlighting as a maid in this timeline.

She sighed. “Amamiya-san, I’ll guide you to the classroom, but for most of the homeroom, we have the Morning Assembly, as Principal Kobayakawa stated. I’ll have you introduce yourself when we get back. For now, follow me.”

She leads Yuki to the auditorium, where people are waiting in line. Kawakami points out where her homeroom is and tells her to stand anywhere she likes. She opted to just stand in the middle (Kawakami kinda gave her chills with that dead look of hers). 

What she saw next made her jaw drop.

Ryuji Sakamoto walked onto the podium.

Now to be fair, it wasn’t the Ryuji Sakamoto she knew, the blond-haired delinquent who was loud, rambunctious, and ever so the lovable idiot and the punching bag. This Ryuji had dark hair, he didn’t seem to be slouching, and he wore the Shujin turtleneck as well. She was kind of surprised and a little creeped out by it. _So that’s what Ryuji would look like if he had black hair. And he looks intelligent; him, of all people?_

Ryuji begins, “Hello, students of Shujin Academy! As we start this new school year off, surrounded by all the bizarre mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown cases, I would like to remind you that academics are necessary for our future. Even though everything may seem distracting, I would like to offer a word of caution: allowing yourself to be distracted by these tragedies and letting yourself hear random baseless rumors does not prohibit you from caring for your fellow students. The Shujin Student Body should be an example, that of peers caring and supporting one another. I hope you all remember that incident from last year; the school and I were most horrified and shocked to learn of that. Rumors cost an innocent girl her life; that by itself should deter most of you from spreading them, but lately, I've noticed the rumor mill has started again. I would like to remind you again of the dangerous nature of rumors. Now, a word from the Principal.”

He stepped off the podium. Yuki noticed Ryuji didn’t bow to him and seemed to shoot a rather disguised, disgusted look at the principal.

The principal spoke, but honestly, it wasn’t anything special. By the time he was done, Yuki had zoned out. Only when he told the students to go back to their classroom did Yuki snap back to reality.

“Are you Amamiya-san?”

Yuki flipped around quicker than a dog chasing its tail. Ryuji was there… standing right in front of her. She never thought to say this, but he looked… _hot._ Traces of the Ryuji she knew as Ren were still there, but somehow the Ryuji that stood in front of her was different. He looked more imposing, more put-together, more... gentlemanly. _Oh, don’t fucking tell me because I’m a girl now, I’m falling for… FUCK, I AM FALLING FOR HIM._

Yuki didn’t realize this, but she was shedding tears.

Ryuji pulled out a handkerchief. “Amamiya-san, is something wrong? You’re crying.”

Yuki smiled. She took the handkerchief and dabbed at her face. “You just remind me of someone, to be honest. He was a lot like you.”

Ryuji was flustered. “Oh… Thanks. Anyways, you should get…”

He was interrupted by someone. She turned around to see Ann approaching them. 

Ann puffed her chest out. “Sakamoto, you’re already latching onto a new girl? Whatever happened to, ‘I plan to not date anyone for a while?’ It’s barely been a month since we broke up.”

Yuki was about to clear things up when Ryuji responded. “Takamaki-san, she’s our newest transfer student. Don’t you think my job is to help her?”

Ann sneered. “So… where’s Niijima-san? Why did she pawn her off to you? Let me guess, it’s because you’re her lapdog, her fuckboi.”

Ryuji sighed. “Ann… you should know why Niijima-san is not here, of all reasons to consider. Even the rumors can tell you that much, even if I don't condone them. That’s why I’m filling in for her. Her duties now fall to me for the time being. As such, I’m now the student liaison for our two new transfer students. Originally, I was supposed to be only Yoshizawa’s student liaison.”

Yuki tilted her head. _Another transfer student?_ “Sakamoto...san, what’s this about another transfer student?”

Ryuji nodded. “Another transfer student, a first-year to be more precise. Her name is Kasumi Yoshizawa. She’s an honors student who’s a rhythmic gymnast.”

Ann looked irritated that the subject got changed. “Anyways, don’t mess with me. You got that, you blonde bimbo? I don’t know why I spared you this morning, but if you try to seduce Sakamoto, I’m going to end you.” _She’s blonde too, you wanted to point out but honestly was still too in shock about everything. She remembered Ann being an absolute ray of sunshine. An airhead, but still a ray of sunshine_

Ryuji sighed. “Ann… try to play nice with her. She’s in your class, 2-D. Miss Kawakami’s homeroom.

Ann smirked. “Oh, I’ll do more than play with her.” She moved faster than Yuki could react, even with her past life experience as Joker and the Third Eye. She was mostly still dazed at how this reality turned out: Ann and Ryuji were dating until recently, Ann was a vengeful person, Ryuji was in Student Council and looked completely smart, and she, Ren, was a girl.

Funny how alternate realities seem to come up with the weirdest shit to throw her off.

* * *

Ann locked lips with her. 

Yuki was like, _What’s this feeling on my face? Is that lip balm? No, too warm. A water bottle? No, not metallic or plastic._ She snapped out of her stupor and was stunned; Ann was kissing her on the lips, though it wasn’t French Kissing.

Ann pulled out. “Ah! That wasn’t half-bad actually.”

Yuki was too tongue-tied to comment. She felt flustered yet oddly aroused. She touched her lips. She, as Ren, had dated Hifumi in the previous life and so she knew how kissing was. However, that was a general, heterosexual kiss.

This kiss was different. It evoked something else other than what he felt with Hifumi.

To be honest, she wanted another, if only to savor this new inexplicable feeling.

Ryuji was too flabbergasted. “Ann… just what do you think you’re doing? That’s wildly inappropriate; she didn’t even consent, and the school rules forbid such behavior. Do I need to report you to the principal?”

Ann smirked, waving her hand. “I know she _liked_ it. Sakamoto, if you’re half as smart as you are, crossing me and getting with her will be the end of you and her. Too-ta-loo. Message me if you want to get together with me again. You have my chat ID.” She walks away.

Ryuji sputtered; he, Ryuji Sakamoto, hook up with the transfer student? That’s absurd; he’s not going to abuse his position like that. Ryuji was stunned by the audacity of that girl; she locked lips with the student who he was supposed to help. If word gets out, then the school administration would blame him for standing there like a cardboard cutout.

Ryuji turned to Yuki. “You alright?”

Yuki, still a little out of the loop, replied. “Fine. I’m absolutely fine.”

Ryuji groaned. “Sorry about her. Ann’s a little… vindictive when it comes to me. Anyways, Yuki-san, you better get to class. Stop by the student council room after school. I had more things to also say, but she interrupted us.”

Miss Kawakami introduced her to the class. “Students, this is Yuki Amamiya. She’s transferred here for this year.” She gestured to Yuki.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yuki Amamiya.”

  
Whispers abounded.

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Wait, could she be…?_

_Nah, look at her. She looks completely different from that idol._

_Why does she get to keep her dyed hair? It’s not fair; at least I can understand why Takamaki is blond. Her natural hair is blond._

_Did you hear about what happened between Takamaki and her?_

_Sakamoto was there too; he apparently saw everything._

_I hope she doesn’t fling herself at Sakamoto-kun. I like Sakamoto, but I’m too afraid to piss off Takamaki-san._

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Miss Kawakami cleared her throat. “Well, Amamiya-san, how about… you take a seat over there by the window, behind Takamaki-san?”

She nodded and made her way. Ann only smirked at her. If not for the fact that she had fond memories of Ann in the previous reality, she would have internally spewed a tirade of curse words at her.

More chattering ensued. She sighed, not knowing whether being part of a rumor of a love triangle or being feared is worse. Even still, the Shujin rumor mill keeps on churning.

* * *

Lunch didn’t seem like it finally came, but it did. She somehow had time before school to pop by the nearby 777 in Shibuya's Central Street and get the healthiest convenience store bento she could find, but the classroom was an utter loud mess. Additionally, she felt uncomfortable there; it wasn’t as bad as when she was Ren, dealing with the fact that Mishima leaked his record, but it wasn’t that much better. Pervasive rumors about her and Ryuji had already gained traction.

She decided to head up to the roof. Something about the roof always made her calm down. She walked upstairs to the roof. She heard voices. _Maybe I’ll see Haru up here._

She opened the door.

Haru was indeed there, but there was an unfamiliar girl sitting nearby, eating out of what seems to be an enormous bento box. 

They looked at Yuki. Yuki shrank back. “Sorry… am I not welcome here?”

Haru, bless her soul, shook her head. “No, it’s fine. In fact, if you want to come up here, let me come with you. I have an excuse to be up here anyway, so any teachers won’t question you guys if I say you’re here with me.”

The other girl spoke up. “Maybe I should leave…”

Haru and Yuki said, “No.” They looked at each other. “Jinx. Double-Jinx. Triple-Jinx.” They giggled. 

Yuki responded. “It’s all right. You’re here as well to escape the rumors, aren’t you?”

The girl nodded. “My name is Kasumi Yoshizawa. I’m an honors student, and I also do gymnastics. However, because of my honors student status, people seem to single me out. I don’t understand why; I’m not that much different from them.” She seemed downcast; for what reason, Yuki wasn't sure. She certainly wasn't going to pry. Kasumi would be much better off opening up to her little by little.

Yuki waved her hand. “You’d be better off not trying to tame the Shujin rumor mill. It seems like it’d be a losing battle anyway.”

Kasumi nodded, a small smile forming. “You’re a second-year, right?” 

Yuki put up her hands. “You caught me. I’m actually a transfer student. Sakamoto-kun says hi to you.”

Kasumi grasped her hand. “You met Sakamoto-senpai? He’s honestly been a big help. He was originally not my liaison here, but Niijima-san took time off from school. He’s helped me with adjusting to school here, at Shujin beforehand.”

Yuki made her way to sit down next to her. “Yeah, he’s nice. It’s a shame I instantly became the root of another rumor because he happened to also be my liaison.”

Kasumi looked at her. “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.”

Yuki gasped. “Sorry, my name is Yuki Amamiya. A pleasure to meet you, Yoshizawa-san.”

Kasumi looked shocked. Yuki was a little confused. “Earth to Kasumi?”

Kasumi snapped out. “I’m sorry. That name just reminds me of an idol I used to watch. She’s one of my inspirations. You just happen to have the same name as her.”

Yuki nervously laughed. “Oh right, I’ve been told that by nearly everyone at this school.”

Yuki gestured to Haru. “Come join us, Haru-senpai. Let’s eat lunch together.”

Haru smiled. “Please, just call me Haru. _Don’t ever call me Senpai_.”

Yuki and Kasumi looked at each other. Kasumi was fearful for her life; of course, she called everyone Senpai. Haru literally threatened them not to call her Senpai. Yuki was afraid because that was Haru's sadistic side right there, the one she displays when Ren and the team in the other reality go into Mementos or a Palace and starts fighting Shadows. 

They ate lunch silently together, not making a single peep.

* * *

School ended. Yuki was about to head to the Student Council Room. _We haven’t gone to Mementos yet, Kamoshida definitely still looks suspicious enough to have a Palace, and we haven’t even gotten to his Palace yet. Makoto’s also gone for unknown reasons._

She made her way to the student council room. This place has been the place of many stories. _When Makoto blackmailed him. When they were looking for Haru. When they were working for the school festival._ Taking a deep couple of breaths, she knocks on the door. 

She then comes in. Ryuji was standing at the window. A laptop and some papers were spread out on the desk.

“Amamiya-san, I’m glad you can make it. Please sit.”

Yuki takes a seat, while Ryuji closes his laptop and files the paper away in a folder. 

He begins. “First, of all, let me apologize to you for what happened this morning. I let my personal, private business interfere with you.”

Yuki instinctively touches her lips. “Apology accepted. Was she always like this?”

Ryuji sighs. “Since I involved you in my mess, I won’t spare no details. As far as I can remember, no. She seemed to really like me, and I liked her. I eventually broke things off last month when Niijima-san had her difficulties and didn’t attend school from then on. I suddenly got burdened with two workloads and it was causing me stress. That’s the gist of it. Apparently she has been intimidating other students into not pursuing any relationship with me, even though I’m far too busy to even consider one.”

Yuki nodded. _Ann, a vengeful yandere. Who would have ever guessed?_

Ryuji cleared his throat. “Now that that part got squared away, let me continue on. I’m assuming the principal has told you the basics already.”

Yuki nodded. “He really seemed to dislike giving me that pardon, I noticed. You also seem to hate Principal Kobayakawa.”

Ryuji sighed. “Honestly, you’re right. Anyone can see that he has no interest in the students. Honestly, he wanted me to urge you to dye your hair back to black, but I was also informed of the situation you’re in. It’s best if you don’t do anything; you’d be put in danger otherwise. I also suspect Mr. Kamoshida of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and sexual assault. That's why I want you to avoid him as best you could.”

Yuki nodded. _Time to prod Ryuji._ “Any idea why you think that?”

Ryuji continued. “Kamoshida has pranced to himself in his office that Shujin was like a castle to him. I happened to be outside and overheard him. Unfortunately, the volleyball team and everyone else has been too afraid to speak of me. I think it’s because Kamoshida’s holding a guillotine above their heads in terms of threatening abuse or to remove them from the volleyball team. Niijima-san, the Student Council President, has been carefully cultivating a file on Mr. Kamoshida until she stopped coming to school since last month. I possess two copies, one at home and one here in this room. No one else other than her and I know about this file, and I prefer to keep it this way. I trust you can keep this a secret. Yuki nodded; she admittedly loathed Kamoshida since she was anxious to get one over him this time around without any backlash from him.

Yuki and Ryuji suddenly feel a wave of migraines hit them. They clutched their heads in agony as it passed.

Ryuji groaned, then breathed. “I think it’d be best if we headed home, Amamiya-san.”

Yuki nodded. She already knew what this meant.

Ryuji and her got up, Ryuji packing his stuff into his duffel bag. They then opened the door and stepped outside.

Ryuji was confused. “What is this place?”

Yuki feigned ignorance. “Looks like an elaborate hallway. How did we end up here though? Could you have said something?”

Ryuji shook his head. “We were just talking about Mr. Kamoshida. Hang on, I hear something.”

Clattering shook the floor. Yuki guessed they were high up in the castle. Two knights appeared around the corner. “Who are you two?”

Ryuji stepped in front of her. “They look like bad news. Run. Get back inside.”

Just then, two knights appeared from the other side of the hallway, rushing in.

Yuki and Ryuji were trapped. She tried opening the door they just walked through. “It won’t budge.”

Ryuji looked desperate. “Damn… all right, I’m going to tackle that pair of soldiers, then you make a run for it. I'll be right behind him.”

Yuki nodded. The plan was a go.

Ryuji charged at the pair who appeared from around the corner. He managed to shove one of them to the ground, but the other smacked his head with the hilt of his sword. He crumpled. 

Yuki cried out, “Ryuji!”

The guards turned to each other. “What was this intruder doing with a sex slave?” Just then, a knight clad in golden armor appeared. “Take them to the dungeons!”

Yuki could do nothing but smirk. Kamoshida will soon find out he messed with the wrong people.

_Persona time._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... if anyone likes to say things aren't wacky enough, guilty as charged. That is what I have planned. The imagination I have is not that expansive.
> 
> This fic will now be a weekly upload, as compared to Psyche, which is a biweekly upload. Rebel Redux will be updated Wed or Thurs every week unless otherwise notated in the last chapter uploaded's comments.
> 
> I just had to play into that trope of Ann and Ryuji dating. However, I don't think in any fanfic I've read so far, Ann has been a creepy yandere. (Cue Yandere Simulator vibes; I watched that, and now am regretting I ever heard of it). Sorry, Ann stans. I promise she's going to get redeemed soon. And by soon I mean like 5 chapters after this.
> 
> So why did Makoto stop going to school? Why is everything so warped in this reality? Who knows?
> 
> I certainly don't.
> 
> The next chapter will be a short recap of Kasumi (the real Kasumi, not Sumire-as-Kasumi).
> 
> Hifumi stans, rejoice. I've acknowledged your waifu choice. Personally I simply like Sumi the most, but waifu wars are just so dumb, we're fighting over a bunch of pixels and stuff. Everyone can have a favorite waifu, and yes, including Ohya. However, I like Ohya's alpha (beta?) design more. However, I can't implement my waifu choice. It would have been Ann or Makoto, but Shumako has turned me off with portions of the community being toxic and Ann is... well... you know.
> 
> Edit: Hallelujah, Nier Replicant ver. 1.22 is announced for next year. Kinda liked that decimal number, square root of 1.5.


	3. The Masquerade of Misdirection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We witness the lens from Kasumi's view of her first day at school. She's just recovering from tragedy and her self-implications in causing said tragedy.
> 
> Yuki finds her in a similar situation under somewhat different circumstances. All she knows is that Arsene is not her Persona, that Kamoshida still has a castle in this timeline, and that her skill and prowess she honed as Ren in the Metaverse carry over to this reality to a certain extent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait... Family events had me tied up. The Autumn Moon Festival... my family usually gathers on that day, but I forgot it was yesterday.
> 
> This chapter is a little angst.
> 
> Bring on the tissues!

_ Sumire was increasingly getting distressed. “You don’t get it... You’ll never understand how I feel.” _

_ Kasumi was puzzled as Sumire began to rush past her. “Huh?” _

_ Kasumi called after her as she tried to catch up to Sumire. “Hey, wait up!” She redoubled her efforts to get Sumire’s attention. “Look where you’re going! The light’s red! Hey!” _

_ Kasumi was trying to catch up to Sumire, but she was too fast. “Sumire, stop! Listen to me! SUMIRE!” _

_ She barely managed to grab Sumire and pull her back, but she wasn’t fast enough to completely pull Sumire back to the curb. A car careened, people began to shriek, and a car crash occurred. _

\---------------------------------------------

Kasumi woke up. “Sumire!” She looked around and deeply sighed. It seems that she had a nightmare about that day again. She got out of her bed and walked to her full-length mirror. She looked at herself: someone who looked like they had not gotten any decent sleep, with dark circles around her eyes. 

She walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she walked there, she noted the house was quiet. Her father must have already gone to work, her mother still at the hospital looking for Sumire. Kasumi desperately hoped that her mother or her father left something for her; she didn’t trust herself to cook a proper meal. More likely than not she’d accidentally give herself food poisoning or undercook something.

After she brushed her teeth, she stepped in the shower for a soak, before heading off to her first day of class. She already laid out her school uniform.

As the shower water hit her, she couldn’t hold it anymore. Even though no one was home, Kasumi kept her emotions in check all the time. Her shower time happened to be the only time where she could relax and let herself loose. The guilt and the knowledge that no one could hear her then broke her, as she squatted.

As the water splattered on the ground around her, she heaved, sobbing. 

“Sumire… I’m so sorry… I should have paid more attention to you. I was insensitive, and I let you believe that I didn’t care about you. I should have been a better, more caring, older sister to you. Instead, all I did was ignore your cries for help and intensified your feelings of inadequacy. I allowed for this to happen; I’m a terrible sister.”

As the shower ran, she stayed there for a while longer, crying herself out. Sumire’s diagnosis particularly gnawed at her; Sumire had survived that car accident but was knocked into a coma with severe injuries to boot. The doctors at the hospital didn’t know when, or even if, she would wake up. 

Kasumi, upon hearing that diagnosis, found herself rushing outside. She rushed to the bathroom, and into a stall before she let loose with her guilt. She let Sumire become like this; she had ignored her sister and focused on herself while her sister had steadily become depressed and attempted to take her own life in front of her.

Suffice it to say, her parents were worried about how much it was taking a toll on her that they had mentioned they had scheduled an appointment with a counselor, but she convinced her parents that they should give her some room to process everything. After all that, Kasumi wasn’t sure a counselor could help her with the feeling of regret and remorse she was having. She felt as if no one could understand the guilt she felt, being the indirect reason for why her sister was now suddenly hospitalized, and in a coma.

She knew there wasn’t enough time to keep showering, but she indulged herself a little by staying a little longer. Eventually, she’ll have to leave for school.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

She got ready. Thankfully, her mother had left some delicious breakfast food for her to eat. Her mother also made a lunch bento for her before she left that morning to go to the hospital.

Normally, she would be and had been happy about attending Shujin, but the fact that Sumire was also transferring to Shujin along with her until Sumire’s suicidal attempt dampened the enthusiasm she held. That reminds her, she would have to get in contact with Sakamoto-senpai, her student liaison guide.

She couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to give a care about her first day at Shujin. That being said, her politeness was one thing she didn’t have to worry about; her parents had drilled into her and Sumire when they were little that politeness can go a long way. Rudeness would only hinder her progress.

Thankfully, the teachers or the staff didn’t seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm. She attended the assembly with minimal interest.

She planned to talk with him after the assembly but she found him talking with another student, a girl with short, blonde hair. As she watched, another girl strode over, one with long blonde hair. She waited until they were done, and then strode over to Sakamoto-senpai. “Sakamoto-senpai!”

Ryuji turned to her. “Oh, Yoshizawa-san. I did remember telling you that we needed to have a little talk after the assembly today.”

Kasumi nodded. “Yes, that’s why I’m here.”

Ryuji sighed. “Sorry… that other discussion took up more time than expected. Can I expect you to pop by after school?”

Kasumi nodded. “Of course, I don’t have practice today.”

When lunch came, Kasumi originally planned to eat in the classroom, but some nasty rumors were circulating about her.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

_ Hey, I heard Miss Rhythmic gymnast has a sister. _

_ I heard her sister was supposed to be at school today, but it turns out she’s a hospital. _

_ Haven’t you guys known? Her sister is a vegetable right now.  _

_ I heard that Miss Rhythmic Gymnast didn’t care about her sister and her sister tried to kill herself in front of her. _

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Kasumi got up and left without a word. She found Sakamoto-senpai, but he was besieged by a crowd of people, the majority of them girls. She shook her head. So much for asking him to show her around.

She then considered the available options left to her. The lunchroom would probably be full of students, so why not the roof, if there even was one. That might be a quiet place where the rumors about her won’t get to her head for the entirety of lunch. 

She headed up to the roof. She did have to ask a couple of people for directions but they gave it to her without any questions. When she approached though, she saw that the door was cracked. Was someone already here?

She opened it. A girl with cinnamon fluffy-hair was busy tending to several planters. The girl heard the door open and turned back. “Ah… did I disturb you?”

The fluffy-haired girl shook her head. “No… it’s alright. I was just surprised that people actually used the roof for something. I had been under the impression that no other students came up here ever.”

Kasumi looked away, fidgeting with her fingers. “Ah… I’m a new student here. I was coming up here because my classroom and the lunchroom were too noisy.” 

The girl with cinnamon-colored hair smiled. “It’s all right. Come. There are chairs here.”

Kasumi nodded. Shutting the door behind her, she made her way to a chair. Unpacking her lunch, she began to eat.

The girl turned back to her plants. While she tended to them, she asked, “Oh! Let me introduce myself. My name is Haru Okumura. And you are?”   
  


Kasumi swallowed. “Kasumi Yoshizawa, Haru-senpai.”

Haru smiled. “ _ Don’t call me Senpai, please.  _ Just call me Haru.”

Kasumi blanched at the sudden shift in tone. “Yes, ma’am. I think you may have heard about me.”

Haru thought about it. “Oh, the rhythmic gymnast? You’re her! Well then, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Kasumi nodded. “You too, Haru.”

Just then the door to the rooftop opened. A blonde short-haired girl stood in the doorway, carrying a significantly smaller bento box than the one she carried. The blonde-haired girl stepped back, then leaned against the doorway. “Sorry, am I not welcome here?”

Haru, bless her soul, shook her head. “No, it’s fine. In fact, if you want to come up here, let me come with you. I have an excuse to be up here anyway, so any teachers won’t question you guys if I say you’re here with me.”

Kasumi spoke up. “Maybe I should leave…”

Haru and the Yuki said, “No.” They looked at each other. “Jinx. Double-Jinx. Triple-Jinx.” They giggled. 

Yuki responded. “It’s all right. You’re here as well to escape the rumors, aren’t you?”

Kasumi nodded. “My name is Kasumi Yoshizawa. I’m an honors student, and I also do gymnastics. However, because of my honors student status, people seem to single me out. I don’t understand why; I’m not that much different from them.”

Yuki waved her hand. “You’d be better off not trying to tame the Shujin rumor mill. It seems like it’d be a losing battle anyway.”

Kasumi nodded, a small smile forming. “You’re a second-year, right?” 

Yuki put up her hands. “You caught me. I’m actually a transfer student. Sakamoto-kun says hi to you.”

Kasumi grasped her hand. “You met Sakamoto-senpai? He’s honestly been a big help. He was originally not my liaison here, but Niijima-san took time off from school. He’s helped me with adjusting to school here, at Shujin.”

Yuki made her way to sit down next to her. “Yeah, he’s nice. It’s a shame I instantly became the root of another rumor because he happened to also be my liaison.”

Kasumi looked at her. “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.”

Yuki gasped. “Sorry, my name is Yuki Amamiya. A pleasure to meet you, Yoshizawa-san.”

Kasumi looked shocked. Yuki was a little confused. “Earth to Kasumi?”

Kasumi snapped out. “I’m sorry. That name just reminds me of an idol I used to watch. She’s one of my inspirations. You just happen to have the same name as her.”

Yuki nervously laughed. “Oh right, I’ve been told that by nearly everyone at this school.”

Yuki gestured to Haru. “Come join us, Haru-senpai. Let’s eat lunch together.”

Haru smiled. “Please, just call me Haru.  _ Don’t ever call me Senpai _ .”

Kasumi and Yuki looked at each other, sharing a mutual fear of this girl. “Haru, how do I put this? You make us really… nervous when you talk like that.”

They then proceeded to dig in, not uttering another word afterward.

\---------------------------------------------------------------  
  


When school ended, Kasumi was in a daze. Usually, she’d have practice, but today she didn’t. When she didn’t have practice, she’d work out to keep in shape, except her mind turns to Sumire now.

She shook her head as she remembered Sakamoto-senpai had asked her to meet with him in the student council room after school.

She traversed the stairs two flights, walked past the library, and to the student council room. Just when she was about to knock, she heard voices from within.

“... I trust you can keep it a secret.”

That was Sakamoto-senpai’s voice, wasn’t it? Kasumi was positively sure of it; however, she was wondering whether she came at a bad time. The phrasing of the sentence also seemed to suggest that someone else was in there

She knocked. “Sakamoto-senpai, excuse me!”

No answer. Kasumi knocked again, but no answer.

Kasumi didn’t have time to waste; she excused herself. “Excuse me, I’m coming in.” She opened the door and went in. “Sakamoto-senpai, I’m… here.” She deflated; no one was in the student council room.

Kasumi thought that it was weird.  _ That’s peculiar. I thought I heard him. Maybe it was my imagination. _

Since he didn’t seem to be here, and no one had seen him around the school since lunch, Kasumi left. She wanted to do one thing today, and since Ryuji was nowhere to be seen, it freed up her schedule for that one thing.

  
  
  


* * *

Tokyo General Hospital

* * *

Kasumi looked at her sister’s face. Her sister was so peaceful sleeping in her hospital bed, despite being strapped with IVs dripping fluids into her arm.

A flood of emotion and guilt almost flooded Kasumi, but she held it in.  _ Not here.  _

Kasumi, nerve-wracked, said, “Sumire, I had my first day of school. It was okay.” She sighed. “You were right; Shujin turned out to be nothing like what I had hyped it up to be.” She almost sniffled. “Sumire, you should have come with me to the first day of school. It’s nothing without you. I feel… lost without you. Look at me now. I know I kept boasting about my prowess and my confidence, but now that you’re not there, I don’t know… what to do.”

Kasumi had the smallest of smiles. “I met some new people. You’d love Sakamoto-senpai; he’s a real stickler, despite not looking like it. Haru-senpai is a gardener but she has a scary side to her that strangely involves people calling her senpai.” She remembered wistfully. “I also met Yuki Amamiya. Of course, she’s not the idol nor does she look like her, but she reminds me a lot of that idol. Sumire, you liked her too, right?”

Kasumi looked down. “I’m sorry for everything. I should have been a better sister and listened to you. Instead, I became too wrapped up in myself and neglected you and your feelings. You’re now in the hospital, and the doctors are even unable to determine when you’ll be able to wake up. I hope you wake up soon. I want to go back to the old times, sister and sister in arms. I want to be the older sister that you could have relied on.”

Kasumi got up. “I better get going. School is harsh; I received plenty of homework to do. I may be an honors student, but I still have to study and work hard. Bye, Sumire. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

She left, leaving a violet on the desk. Once she left the room, Sumire’s left pinky finger slightly twitched.

\------------------------------------------------------

Kamoshida’s Palace, around the same time

  
  


* * *

Yuki found it utterly bizarre how the guards didn’t hurt her. That being said, they did restrain her along with Ryuji until they reached the dungeon.

Ryuji was unconscious, with a lump on his head. The guards wasn’t too kind with their treatment of him. She, on the other hand, was left perfectly untouched. Of course, that had to be the case. Given the kind of person Kamoshida was, he most likely saw her as a sex slave, someone meant to be unharmed except by him.

Once they got thrown in the jail cell, she went over to check on Ryuji. He was slowly breathing; it means he got knocked out. Yuki breathed a sigh of relief; she wished she could cast Dia or some healing spell on him, but she hadn’t awakened to her Persona yet. She idly wondered who her Persona was going to be. 

She shook her head; now wasn’t the time to sit around. She had to wake Ryuji. 

She shook Ryuji. “Wake up, Sakamoto. Wake up, Ryuji.” No response, no change in his breathing pattern. She sighed; it looks like she’ll have to resort to the nuclear option.

_ Sorry, Ryuji. It’s going to hurt; I promise it won’t hurt as much as when that guard smacked you in the head.  _ She smacked Ryuji hard in the face.

Ryuji woke up. “Owwww! Who did… that!?” He saw Yuki. “Amamiya-san! The last thing I remembered was an elaborate hallway, and some people in armor. They looked like… medieval knights. Where are we?”

Yuki nodded to the door. “It looks like we’re in a jail cell. Probably the basement. They threw the both of us in here.” She acted distraught. “We’re locked in here. How do we get out?”

Ryuji ran to the door. “Hey, let us out! I demand you release us this moment! Hey! Is there anyone there!?”

Footsteps emerged from the darkness. A trio emerged, two guards followed by Kamoshida.  _ So it is HIS palace, this time around too. _

Kamoshida smirked. “I thought it was a couple of petty intruders, but to think it was you, Sakamoto. How’s that position holding up for you? I’m pretty sure I ran you out of the track team.”

Ryuji shot back, “Mr. Kamoshida! What is the meaning of this!? Release us this instant!”

This “Kamoshida” grew angry. “Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all. This is my world, my castle. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you also came in without my permission. The punishment for that is death.

This Kamoshida waved his hand. Was I imagining things or is he naked except for his underwear? “It’s time for his execution! Take him out!”

Ryuji looked alarmed. “S-Stop it! Have you gone mad? I knew you were a manipulative and abusive teacher, but to this extent!”

The guards piled in. Sakamoto, backed into the corner, looked infuriated. “Damn iittt!” He charged and managed to knock one of the guards down. “Oof! Yuki, go! Let’s get out of here!”

He only barely managed to say that before any guard walked up, shaking off their surprise and gut-slammed Ryuji. Ryuji stumbled, kneeling down. “Aaghhh...!”

Yuki couldn’t leave Sakamoto by himself. Yuki tried to rush to Ryuji’s side, but the guards blocked her path.

Sakamoto groaned in pain but managed to say, “Hurry! Get going! I’ll… be right behind you.”

Shadow Kamoshida noticed Yuki. “Well, if that isn’t a fine body… what say you to being one of my playthings?”

Yuki spat at his feet. “I would never associate myself with the likes of you.”

Kamoshida’s face contorted in fury. “You’ll regret that. Guards! Pick up Sakamoto. I’d like to use him as my punching bag.” 

Two guards pulled up Sakamoto and held him up by the arms. One lightly restrained Yuki. Shadow Kamoshida strode up to Sakamoto, lifted him by his shirt, and raised his fist. “Take this! Lowly scum! Useless pest!” Yuki winced more and more.

She couldn’t take it anymore. “Stop it! Ryuji!” She glared at Shadow Kamoshida. “We will stop you!”

Shadow Kamoshida heard her. “Shut up, bitch. You don’t tell me what to do.

Shadow Kamoshida spat at Sakamoto, “Worthless insect. You think you can interfere with me, the great Kamoshida!? It’s time for you to learn your place!” One of the guards picked up Sakamoto. As the guard threw him to the wall, Kamoshida continued speaking. “I’m surprised. You ditched your friends and left them behind. I’m surprised you’re still trying to act the hero when all you are is a coward. I’ll have you killed right now.”

Ryuji, breathing heavily, spat back at him. “I knew what was up with you. I left because I knew I couldn’t help my teammates as captain of the track team, but I also didn’t sit idly by. When I joined the Student Council, it was with the intent of exposing you and making you pay for your crimes against everyone you abused. However, even I couldn’t believe the amount of corruption lurking within the administration. I couldn’t believe how everyone looked past it for some glory. Teachers, students, ”

Shadow Kamoshida heard Ryuji. He smirked evilly. “Even still, I’m still here, am I? You failed your friends, the track team, the volleyball team, and of course yourself.”

Ryuji shook his head. “I’m not believing a single word of yours, you  _ monster _ . When Niijima-san recruited me to the Student Council, she knew that you were a menace to the students. Of course, the principal nor the adults would listen because they’re also overlooking it in exchange for their children gaining prominence and fame.” He looked down. “We knew it was nigh impossible to get anyone to listen, but we would never neglect the student body.”

Shadow Kamoshida frowned. “I tire of this discussion. Kill him.”

Yuki rushed forward, a fist pulled, but the guards caught her, pinning her to the wall. “You won’t get away with this, Kamoshida.”

A voice sounded in her head.  _ My, my, aren’t you ever the feisty one!? Is this your sense of justice? _

Yuki knew who this was. Predictably, it sounded nothing like Arsene.  _ Justice… if that means helping others being abused by others and making them pay, then yes, I am. I was and still am Joker, even if it is heart, mind, and will alone. _

_ Dear, what is your goal? _

Yuki was confused.  _ My goal is… my goal is… it is to protect others. My goal is to defy people who abuse others and don’t play by the same rules as I and others do.  _

The voice giggled.  _ Vow to me then. I am thou, thou art I. If you are willing to perform such sacrilegious acts for your own justice and for others… then call my name and release your fury and sense of justice! _

Kamoshida noticed Yuki being quiet. “I think she has been broken. Perfect. She’ll make an excellent plaything.”

He strode over to her, grabbing her chin with his hand. “Do you like it?”

Yuki screamed. With that blue fire erupted around her. Kamoshida stumbled back, panicked. “What the hell?”

The fire dissipated, Yuki in her clothes of rebellion. The costume consisted of slim leather leggings, with a decorative jewel-encrusted belt holding it. She wore a ruffled white shirt, her jacket a blue and black blazer with decorative designs. Her mask resembled a masquerade mask, but with imprints of jewels on it, and more elegantly curved at the ends. It was larger than the domino bird-shaped mask she possessed once as Ren. For shoes, she wore black boots, thankfully not high-heeled.

Kamoshida looked terrified. “Guards, put her in her place!”

Yuki yelled, “Persona!”

A feminine figure arose behind her. Her Persona towered above her. She wore a beret, dressed in a black blazer with a similar ruffled shirt. For pants, the persona donned black slacks with boots.

_ I am Irene, the Masquerader of Misdirection. What are your wishes, my other self? _

Yuki gestured towards the guards. “We need your help in defeating them, and getting out of this castle.”

The guards erupted into puddles, from which two Jack O’ Lantern emerged.

Irene bowed.  _ As you wish.  _ Yuki removed her mask. “Irene, Kouha!”

Balls of light emanated from Irene’s hands and flew. They each struck the Jack O’ Lanterns, but it wasn’t enough to break them down. Yuki grimaced. She noticed she didn’t have a dagger; instead, she has a scabbard with a sword at her side. She drew her sword. It was something in between a fencing sword and a short sword, thin yet surprisingly sturdy. She rushed forward and slashed both of them. 

They disintegrated. Yuki looked down at her sword. It was light, thinner than the average short sword, and had better reach than the dagger she used to have. It’d have to do.

Kamoshida inched backward. Ryuji took the opportunity to run straight into him, knocking Kamoshida down. 

Yuki gestured towards the key that Kamoshida dropped. “The door!”

Ryuji understood. He scooped up the keys. They rushed out and locked the door behind them, Shadow Kamoshida still inside. 

Shadow Kamoshida was furious, gripping at the bars. “You won’t get away with this! Guards! Where are my other guards when I need them?”

Yuki nodded to Ryuji. “Let’s get out of here!”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Yuki led Ryuji out of the castle, but it took just as long as she had remembered. When she came to the area where Morgana was being held, she had to resist the urge to check there. She knew Mona hadn’t been created yet. That being said, she now had to keep herself in check. Without Mona, she has to watch herself more carefully, even more so. She couldn't afford to tire out or slip up. When they passed the cognitions of the volleyball players, Ryuji didn’t run over to them. Instead, his mood darkened. It seems he already knew who they were and had questioned them.

They stumbled back into the Student Council office. Yuki looked outside. It looks like a couple of hours had passed.  _ Reminds me of the Palace infiltrations back then. _

Ryuji was winded. Being in the Metaverse really tired both of them out, even Yuki when she already technically had plenty of experience in the Metaverse. “Amamiya-san, was that a castle? What was… that outfit? And what was… that thing behind you?”

Yuki contorted her face into a look of dumbfoundedness. “To be honest, I think I said  _ Persona _ . You saw Mr. Kamoshida, didn’t you?”

Ryuji nodded. “That’s right. He certainly wasn’t subtle with his disgusting tendencies.”

Yuki contemplated how she was going to break it to Ryuji. Breaking it to him in the sense of  _ I actually got isekai-ed, but not into a fantasy world, more so a different reality. We’re actually traversing in the cognitions of other people, stealing hearts of corrupt people  _ would ideally be how she wanted to break it to him, but he’d write her off as crazy. The Ryuji Sakamoto of this reality is a more logical one than the one she knew as Ren. He was dozens of times smarter than the loud, rambunctious, blond-haired Ryuji she once knew.

She chose her words carefully. “Don’t you think that Mr. Kamoshida in the castle was a different one?”

Ryuji stroked his chin. “Well, I have to agree with you there. For one, he had yellow eyes. Two, he was naked and only wearing a robe.”

She then posited a question. “Do you think we traveled into an alternate world? Something outside of Tokyo and reality?”

Ryuji doubted that. “Even though I literally saw knights in armor and a castle occupying where the school is, it’s just… hard to digest.”

Yuki decided to press. “Regarding what you said earlier, I think I got something.”

Ryuji nodded. “Yes?”

Yuki laid it blunt. “I think that place embodies his desires, and so maybe we can use that place to solve the problem you have.” 

Ryuji was confused. “Pardon?”

Yuki continued. “I’m saying that we could use this alternate place to get rid of Mr. Kamoshida. And when I mean get rid of him, I don’t mean kill him, I mean to get him to quit Shujin and make him confess his sins.”

Ryuji looked startled. “Even still… to resort to a tactic like this…”

Yuki was determined to convince Ryuji to not pass up the chance. “Mr. Kamoshida has basically displayed an arrogant, antagonistic tone to us. He beat you up and threatened to harass and rape me. I understand it’s not the actual Mr. Kamoshida, but who’s to say that the man himself isn’t anything like that. The evidence that Niijima-senpai and you gathered even corroborates your suspicions and the behavior he showed us in that place. This discovery we made might be the best way to deal with Mr. Kamoshida before he causes any more irreparable harm.”

Yuki made up her mind, but in reality, she already came to that decision when she first realized Kamoshida still had a palace. “I can’t overlook this; if Mr. Kamoshida is like this, then we have to intervene. Since we can’t get the school or the PTA to intervene, then we’ll have to do so ourselves.”

Ryuji closed his eyes, thinking. Yuki looked out the window while she waited, watching the students file out and go home. Ryuji joined her at the window.

“I’m in.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you may be wondering, how did I get the inspiration for Yuki's outfit of rebellion? And why did I choose Irene Adler as her Persona?
> 
> First of all, I took inspiration from Haru's costume but modified it to fit the late 1800s to early 1900s attire. Her costume reflects the idea of misdirection and that nothing is as what it seems and should be. That's why I made the outfit to be a bit more masculine-appearing than before, also because it fits Irene Adler's character synopsis and past. That being said, it does incorporate feminine elements, especially the mask and the jewel-encrusted belt. The mask is to be described as an elaborate masquerade mask, similar to that of Sumi's mask but wider, covering nearly the entire upper portion of the face. The mask is also decorated with designs of jewels. To deceive Sherlock Holmes, she dressed as a man to make her escape, but not before being tricked by Holmes into giving away the location of the photograph depicting her relationship with the King of Bohemia (A Scandal in Bohemia). The outfit and choice of Persona also draws certain parallels into the whole genderswap situation I have going on in the main story, with Yuki and her current struggles adjusting to life as a female.
> 
> Off-topic here, a question: if Sumire was knocked into a coma while Kasumi actually didn't die, what do you suppose Kasumi would feel, knowing that Sumire accidentally tried to commit suicide in front of her? We know that Kasumi was at least a little aware that Sumire was feeling depressed, but she ignores it. What happens when Kasumi succeeds in saving Sumire, and Kasumi has at least surmised a good understanding of why Sumire did something like that? 
> 
> Will she continue moving forward? Will she drift aimlessly as Sumire did with herself in Royal pre-actualization? Or will she mope around while trying to get over it? What will the guilt make her do? My interpretation of Kasumi's emotional grievance is just that, an interpretation.
> 
> P.S: I don't intend for Sumire to be in a coma forever, but don't go expecting her to wake up any time soon in terms of story timeline, not chapter-wise. Post-coma Sumire will be a tabula rasa in terms of not conforming to Royal Sumi's characterization.


	4. The Indeterminable Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki receives a call from Felix telling her that the Velvet Room is now accessible to her. She feels excited to see Morgana again, even if it may not be the Morgana she once knew.
> 
> Ryuji seeks out Shiho Suzui to find out the truth about Kamoshida given her position as a member of the volleyball team who he knows from being with Ann. Will she spill? Will she deflect or deny?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully, this chapter didn't require that much revision. 
> 
> Not much action in this chapter, though we first-hand get another look at Kamoshida being a creep.
> 
> Enjoy reading.

4/12/16

Shujin Academy

* * *

  
  
Yuki couldn’t focus on classes that day. After learning that Suguru Kamoshida still possessed a palace in this reality, she couldn’t bear to let anything happen this time around. However, everything has changed, from the point of infiltration to Morgana not being available as of yet, to even Ryuji’s position of knowing which students are already being abused.

Everything threw her for a loop; honestly, she wondered if the knowledge she has of Kamoshida’s Palace back in her own timeline was even accurate to some degree. She would hate it if she relied on her knowledge of the layout within Kamoshida’s Palace from once upon a time ago in another reality only to find discrepancies and accidentally lead the team into a trap. 

Anyway, she has three utmost priority objectives to accomplish to be able to storm the castle. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first includes recruiting Morgana and Ann. She remembered that she was supposed to visit the Velvet Room; on the other hand, she was unsure how she would access it this time. In the previous reality, Yaldabaoth had permitted her access to the Velvet Room at certain locations, in addition to within the Metaverse and Mementos. That also does not count the various times she was dragged into the Velvet Room within her dreams. This time around, the real Igor and her Velvet Room attendants Lavenza and Felix were there to guide her, with no crucial need for her to keep an eye out. Regardless, Morgana would be waiting for her the next time she came by; his presence on the team is crucial to manpower and especially navigation and support since Futaba is still keeping her isolated.

For a split second, Yuki contemplated whether anyone else outside of the Phantom Thieves she knew would be able to harness the power of a Persona if they also got exposed to the Metaverse; she would imagine some people could, but she’d have no way of ascertaining for certain. That being said, it would help in not over-exerting themselves too much earlier on. She remembered the time when she was still fresh to the whole Metaverse phenomenon; it tired Ren out so much he went straight to bed; with time, that lessened somewhat. However, finding more members wasn’t an absolute priority; she didn’t want to drag people who weren’t willing or able to deal with everything the Metaverse presents, figuratively as well as literally.

Besides, the four of them (Ann, Ryuji, Morgana, and herself) were able to accomplish the feat by themselves with the prep of course.

The second is to determine whether certain events can be altered or negated entirely. Yuki’s mind drifts to Shiho; if she was able to change the scope of this timeline to save Shiho and some other events, she would.

The third objective is to scope out the differences in the Metaverse and reality between this reality and the one she (really, he) came from. She did not want any surprises to trip her up; they could make or break her strategies and her ability to use her prior experience to her advantage. As she expected, this would be difficult to gauge right from the very beginning.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The end of school rolled by; she was about to meet up with Ryuji to discuss their plans for what they should do next; Ryuji already had information on the students being abused, and Yuki the knowledge of her previous experience (though she didn’t reveal anything to Ryuji yet).

Just then she got a call. Her ringtone started playing. She picked up.

A male voice spoke up. “Trickster.”

Yuki was confused. “Is that you, Felix? I’m surprised that Velvet Room attendants know how to operate the phone.”

Felix scoffed. “Miss Yuki, we Velvet Room attendants are not as bewildered by the world as you may think. I’m more accustomed to the world outside the Velvet Room than many of my other siblings, if you require an explanation.” He cleared his throat. “Moving on, the Master has instructed me to inform you that you may drop by the Velvet Room as soon as you can. He has seen fit to locate the Velvet Room entrance in several locales, all of which you may be familiar with. You will need your key to unlock the Velvet Room door in order to enter.” His voice dropped as he seemed to be listening to something. “He also has informed me that Morgana is now available for you to come by… and assist you on your journey.”

Yuki nodded. “All right, I’ll stop by today. Are these entrances located in the same areas I am accustomed to seeing them at?”

Felix cleared his throat. “Yes, please be sure to have your Velvet Room Key on hand at that time. If you do not possess it, you will not be granted access within.”

The line dropped.

Yuki shot a quick message over to Ryuji.  _ Sorry, I have something I need to do. I’ll also start prepping for when we return to that castle. _

Ryuji sent back a message.  _ It’s fine. I think we also need to prep; I don’t want to go back to that castle and be a sitting duck. In the meantime, I’m going to find Shiho Suzui. You may not know her, but she’s Takamaki’s friend and a player on the volleyball team. She also seemed to be the most open out of everyone on there; I’m going to try and ask her to step forward. There also seems to be rumors about her and the treatment she received from Kamoshida. _

Yuki messaged back.  _ Right, just be careful. If she’s definitely abused, then you might make her panic or remember some bad details. Also, try not to be too suspicious or blunt; we don’t need Kamoshida to catch wind of this. _

She pockets her phone and heads out of the classroom. She was about to descend the flight of stairs when Kamoshida walked by and saw her.  _ Speak of the devil. _

“Amamiya-san, welcome to Shujin.”

Yuki grits her teeth but maintained a neutral demeanor. “Thank you. Can I help you with something?”

Kamoshida was seriously not trying hard to cover his disgusting tendencies. “You have a nice figure and a limberness to you. Why don’t you join the volleyball team? We could use more fit people.”

Yuki put on a forced smile. “I already have a job that I have to go to after school, a job at my guardian’s cafe. I should really get going right now; if I don’t get there soon, he may call me or even the police.”

Kamoshida stepped in front of her. His voice took on a more sinister tone. “Might I ask you to reconsider that decision? I won’t ask you to commit to it every day; I’d hate for you to write off this. The volleyball team is what Shujin’s famous for, with my coaching; wouldn’t you agree that joining the volleyball team would allow for you to gain more opportunities later on?”

Yuki kept on her forced smile. “I’ll certainly think about it, but for now the answer is…”

A voice rang out. “Mr. Kamoshida, let her go!”

Kamoshida was peeved by that interruption that he turned to look. Yuki craned her head to look as well while keeping Kamoshida in her field of vision. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mishima.

That was surprising; Mishima was apparently not Kamoshida’s lackey this time around and was jumping in to intervene. She could remember that the Mishima of her reality had been abused to no end by Kamoshida that he fell into doing Kamoshida’s dirty work.

Mishima walked up to them and inserted himself between them. “Mr. Kamoshida, what are you doing to her? She clearly looked uncomfortable talking to you.”

Kamoshida chuckled. “Isn’t personal recruitment supposed to mean engaging with them in a conversation?” His face hardened. “Mishima, back off. We were just having a productive conversation about her possibly joining.”

Mishima astonishingly stood his ground, despite being completely dwarfed by Kamoshida. “She clearly said she wasn’t interested multiple times. Shouldn’t you let her go if she’s not interested no matter what you say?”

They stared at each other. A crowd was beginning to form around this sight, students eager to see them throw down with each other. Finally, Kamoshida had enough; he didn’t want a spectacle to come about this. He shot a venomous look at Mishima and lumbered off.

Mishima untensed and looked at Yuki. “Amamiya-san, right?”

Yuki nodded. “That’s right. You’re in my class too, isn’t that right? Your name is Mishima Yuuki.”

Mishima sheepishly laughs. “You got me. Are you doing okay?”

Yuki nodded. “Fine. I had it handled, but thanks for stepping in to help.”

Mishima nods. “No problem. Kamoshida-sensei certainly gives me the creeps; I’m happy I stepped in to diffuse that. Who knows what might have happened? I have friends in the volleyball team that look completely beat up. They refuse to say anything to me, even though I worry about them. I don’t want you to end up like them.”

Yuki smiles. “You’re a good guy, Mishima. You sure you stepped in to help me and not to score brownie points with me?”

Mishima blanched and blushes. “No, no, no… I mean you’re a girl, but... I didn’t... want you to accidentally get hurt.” 

Yuki grinned. “How sweet. I’m fine, though. I can take care of myself.”

Mishima groaned. “You sure do act like a gaijin. With your looks, I would have you pegged for one. You sure?”

Yuki nodded. “Perfectly fine. I’m not going to be someone who doesn’t show any gratitude, however.”

Mishima seemed content with her answer; he walked off, tilting his head in acknowledgment.

* * *

Yuki found herself before the Velvet Room door near Untouchables. In another reality, she was Ren Amamiya, manipulated by someone he thought he could trust to assist him throughout his journey. It was laughable when he found out the person assisting him had been an imposter, who was actually pulling the strings all along as the Holy Grail and seeking to dispose of anyone who opposed it.

She breathed in and breathed out, then she rummaged for her Velvet Room key. She found it and brought it out. It resonated, then swung open. She stepped through the door and found herself in the chair in the flight cabin. Igor was sitting at a table across from her, flanked by both Felix and Lavenza.

Igor smiled. “Welcome, Trickster. It is your first time visiting the Velvet Room, of your own accord, with many times to come. Now, we must discuss the duties Felix and Lavenza will occupy.”

Yuki was confused. “By the way, I have been meaning to ask. How are you going to fuse personas in here? You can’t exactly fit a guillotine in here, much less two.”

Igor nodded. “There are more ways than just that. By the way, that is what Felix will be doing, in the meantime. He will be in charge of Fusion, and as you know, as you grow stronger, more and more methods of fusing and indeed, execution, will be made available to you.” He gestured to Lavenza. “Lavenza will be in charge of your Compendium, in addition to the Lockdown status, once you have attained that.”

Yuki nodded. “Speaking of the Compendium, do I retain my Compendium from the previous reality?”

Igor tapped his fingers. “Unfortunately, it does not seem so. Owing to your current existence as another version of yourself, it does not stand to reason that whatever progress you may have carried over to this reality. However, I will be fortuitous and grant you the fusion recipes you carefully have cultivated in the previous reality.”

He drummed his fingers. “Now, onto business. Originally, the former Yuki Amamiya never had a Velvet Room guide aside from Felix to assist her in her journey. Considering your circumstances and your familiarity, we have both agreed that Morgana will likely be a great aid to your present journey as the Trickster of this reality. As such, I have used my power to create him.” He shifts his voice. “My dear Morgana, please show yourself to our esteemed guest.”

Footsteps rang out from the private cabin behind Igor. As the door opened, she looked downwards and expected to find the lovable bipedal furball she kept toting in her bag. All she saw were shoes. 

Yuki was confused.  _ Shoes?  _ She looked upward slowly, taking in what she saw. When she came to Morgana’s face, she gaped in pure shock.  _ Who is this!? This isn’t the Morgana I know. Who is this imposter? _

A velvety voice emanated. “My name is Morgana. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Yuki, mouth still agape, looked at Lavenza. “Who made Morgana a human?”

Lavenza smiled. “Master did, of course. At first, he did make Morgana into a cat as he had done previously, but Morgana made some very convincing arguments for why he should have been a human.”

Yuki gulped. Human Morgana looked visually stunning; at the same time, it just didn’t sit well with her. “Does he still have memories from the previous timeline?”

Lavenza shook her head. “In this case, he is very much a tabula rasa; on the other hand, we did fill him in on some information about what happened in the previous timeline. That being said, he’s not the same Morgana you once knew.”

Morgana, for those of you wondering, was tall, well-built, and looked like an actor with his looks, with parted black hair, stunning blue eyes, and a smile that would sweep anyone off their feet. 

Yuki gestured to him. “So I’m taking care of him? I’m not paying for his rent, you know. Yuki’s parents would kill me if I asked something like that. Also, is he going to school or what? He looks like he’s high-school-aged.

Lavenza waved her hand. A folder and a briefcase appeared. Yuki immediately got suspicious at the sight of that briefcase. “The folder is some cognitive actualization we’ve done to help him get transferred into Shujin. We also made sure that the paperwork looks legitimate, along with the grades. The briefcase… well, you’re going to have to ask your caretaker to help take him in. Offer him half of it for the next 9 months; the other half will be his allowance.”

Morgana walked over to her. “Hey, gorgeous. Might I ask you for a…?”

That was far as he got before Yuki had enough and knocked him out with a whack to his sensitive area. He keeled on the ground, groaning. Yuki was sufficiently creeped out; she never expected Morgana to try to put a play on her. “You know, I never really wanted to imagine this could happen, but now that it did, I’m putting my foot down. Mona, get your sorry ass up. We’re leaving. Don’t ever hit on me again. If I don’t see you up, I’m leaving you here.”

Morgana rubbed his head as he got up, groaning. “She sure is temperamental. Coming! I want to live life outside the Velvet Room as a human!”

When they left, Lavenza sank downwards, exhausted. Felix smirked. “He sure is a handful. I’m glad that the Trickster can restrain him like that; he can be quite the feisty person.”

Lavenza sighed. “You don’t know the half of it, Felix. Believe me, Morgana seems quite more tempered here than back there.”

  
  


* * *

Shujin 

Roughly around the same time frame

* * *

  
  


Ryuji was looking for Shiho Suzui. Hopefully, she hadn’t left the premises just yet. However, he was having trouble finding her. He even checked the rooftop and other areas where students would hang out after school.

Eventually, he found her in the courtyard. Ann was talking to her; he figured, since they were best friends and rather attached to the hip together. When he broke up with Ann, Shiho surprisingly didn’t cut ties with him, messaging him every now and then. If only Shiho could have reined in Ann… he shook his head. He was seriously here for a different matter, something far more serious.

Ryuji approached Shiho. “Suzui-san. Takamaki.”

Ann was peeved. “The hell was with that greeting, Sakamoto? You think you can muster up a little more emotion?”

Ryuji sighed. Ann, ever the drama queen. “By your own standards, you should be grateful I’m even talking to you willingly after everything you’ve done, including to me and others. I’ll have my own little lecture with you about what happened today. For now…” He turned to Shiho. “Can we have a chat? Privately, in the student council room.”

Shiho was interested. “What did she do that should warrant a lecture from you, Student Council President?”

Ann hugged Shiho and stuck out her tongue. “You’re not taking Shiho away from me! We promised to go shopping this afternoon in Roppongi!”

Ryuji sighed. “That's the Acting Student Council President to you. I haven’t usurped the position from Niijima-san. As to your question, Suzui, she did a PDA to one of our newest transfer students.”

Shiho was not surprised. “That’s Ann for you. I am surprised that she kissed someone. Transfer student… Do you mean that 2nd year girl that shares the same name as that idol?”

Ryuji nods. “That’s the one. Anyways, Suzui, this won’t take long. I just need to ask you something.”

Ann points a finger. “Hey, why are you ignoring me!? I want to sit in.”

Ryuji shakes his head. “Takamaki, this is private for both me and her. This is in regards to those rumors about her.”

Ann wags her finger. “Well, the Shujin rumor mill is wrong. Shiho, are any of those true!?”

Ryuji could see Shiho shake with some emotion. Fury or disgust, or perhaps sadness? “No, they’re not.”

Ann poses triumphantly. “There! You see, Shiho says there’s nothing wrong. Drop it, Ryuji.”

Ryuji is exasperated with how the conversation is going. Fine, he’ll pull out that card. “As part of the Student Council, it’s my duty to ensure that the students are doing fine. Shiho, I just want to confirm that in a more private location.”

Ann looked reluctant to buy it, but Shiho nodded. “Go, Ann. We’ll still have time to go shopping. Besides, Ryuji said it won’t take long. He’s just looking out for us as someone who’s elected to the Student Council.”

Ann looked unconvinced, but she let it go. “Alright, I’ll be in Shibuya then. Meet up at the Shibuya Underground Mall?”

Shiho smiled. “You got it.”

Ryuji nods. “Suzui, if you’ll follow me.”

They began the trek towards the Student Council room. Shiho remained silent; it only stands, since she and Ryuji never properly had a lengthy conversation, particularly in person.

It seemed like no time had passed when they got to the Student Council room.

Ryuji opened the door and gestured. “Suzui, please sit.”

Shiho sat down. Ryuji took a seat opposite her. “Suzui, are what the rumors saying about you true?”

Shiho shook her head. Ryuji sighed. “Shiho, you can drop the act.”

Shiho was confused. “What act?”

Ryuji looks at her. “I know. I could notice the demeanor you gave around Ann. It felt forced to me. You can come out to me, Shiho. I’m the only one here. I promise no one else apart from my partner will hear this, especially Kamoshida. My partner and I are working to expose Mr. Kamoshida’s crimes and get him fired. However, no one else from the volleyball team had said a word, despite my best attempts to grant them anonymity. You’re the only one, Shiho. Don’t let him get away with this.”

Shiho slumps down. “You knew that my cheerful self was all just an act?”

Ryuji scratches his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean you shouldn’t have done that. You didn’t want to worry Ann, I understand that. However, she’s your friend, Shiho. If you keep this to yourself and if something happens to you, she’ll never forgive you for not telling her nor herself for not picking up the signs.”

Shiho half-heartedly nods. “You wanted to know about what Mr. Kamoshida does?”

Ryuji put on a very disgusted grimace. “That man… he has to go. The only thing is, everyone involved is too afraid to speak out against him. Shiho, I need your help if we’re to deal with him. Otherwise, he’ll just keep abusing the volleyball team. Suzui, will you--.”

Shiho yelled. “You don’t know anything!” 

Ryuji was stunned, falling silent. In all his time, Shiho had never been one to yell. She had always been quiet, in school. She always kept to herself, hanging out with Ann mostly besides her volleyball practice.

Shiho repeated in a whisper. “You don’t know anything, Sakamoto…”

Ryuji brought up the nerve to respond. “Enlighten me, Suzui. If I’m to have any chance with ensuring Mr. Kamoshida desists from his abuse and that he pays for his crimes, I need to know everything.”

Shiho covers her face with her hands. “Sakamoto… I’ll tell you everything. I’ll tell you about the monster that is Mr. Kamoshida.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mishima... is complicated. I always thought he had it bad like everyone else who got abused. Don't get me wrong, the dude seriously shouldn't haven given into Kamoshida and become his lapdog, but honestly, we are unsure of how terrible Kamoshida treated him. Considering Shiho received the worst of it, I'm curious as to how horribly abused Mishima was.
> 
> In this timeline, Mishima isn't a coward. He's not a bystander either, because we see him intervene. This Mishima is essentially what I wanted him to be, a guy who may pick fights with abusive authority figures even if he loses these fights because he's not as strong or tall as these abusive figures. That being said, he will still be the Moon arcana confidant because of slightly altered reasons.
> 
> Onto other news:
> 
> I've decided that publishing chapter updates for two stories for the same week, even if I'm doing three chapters at a time (2 for Psyche, 1 for Rebel Redux) messes with my flow. I often have to reference previous chapters (written in the previous week) in order to make sure I'm writing accurate updates.   
> That makes me feel as if I'm compromising the quality of the content I publish, even if I'm satisfied with most of the chapters I publish.
> 
> I thus decided to do an experiment. For the next two weeks, Each story will take up a week, with 2-3 chapters coming out per week. It will help with maintaining reading quality and making sure I don't make rather stupid blunders by forgetting important plot devices I used previously or other things like diverting from the main focus. I will admit that I read my entire work after publication in order to learn from it and allow myself inspiration for the next update.
> 
> I intend to use these two weeks as a test run to gauge the high consistency of quality if I was to change to such a schedule. Either way, Rebel Redux will be updated the Sunday after next Sunday (PST wise).
> 
> P.S: Little Plug to Psyche. Psyche is coming close to an important plot device in the next 3-4 chapters; this will undoubtedly change the rest of that story. All I can say is that the plot device is slightly discernible, but you have to understand the variations between Royal and Psyche's semi-canon recap. 
> 
> The story will be discoverable if you click on my AO3 username or by typing: Psyche: Life in the Midst of Pain and Fate.


	5. The Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki introduces Morgana to Sojiro as a friend in need of someplace to stay, with paperwork and payment in tow. 
> 
> Ryuji recalls the time he got recruited to Student Council after he quits the track team because of Mr. Kamoshida. He then recalls how he reacted to Shiho's confession.
> 
> Mishima overhears something, which he also records. Shiho Suzui has had enough of everything (the abuse as well as harassment) and wants to quit the volleyball team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I apologize for the long break. I was feeling a bit under the weather this week, but I managed to polish this chapter and am almost done with the next chapter. 
> 
> We're ramping up to what would normally be Shiho's suicidal attempt in the game, but here it will be obviously different.
> 
> Enjoy reading.

“Who is this fellow?”

Sojiro Sakura was sitting in a booth across from Yuki and Morgana. Yuki found Sojiro’s look to be a bit intimidating, but she mustered through it.

Thankfully, it seemed that Lavenza had given her the perfect cover-story, and used the power of cognition to create a perfect alibi for Morgana.

“He’s my friend. He knows me because his parents are friends of mine. His parents decided they want to send him to boarding school here in Tokyo, so that’s why he’s here. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find appropriate housing for him in Tokyo, so his parents asked my parents where I was currently living, and then his parents called me asking if I’d vouch for him.”

Sojiro stroked his beard. “I happen to have an attic above LeBlanc, but --”

Yuki interrupted his thought by placing the briefcase on the table. Sojiro’s eyes widened at the sight of it. “Morgana was carrying this with him. His parents have informed me that they are willing to offer you half of it if you’d be willing to house him. Of course, they informed me that they would be willing to offer you more. The other half is for his living expenses in regards to food and certain other conveniences.”

Sojiro cleared his throat. “Well, if you’re vouching for him and if his parents trust you, then I see no problem with it. He’ll have to stay in the attic; I don’t have enough room at the house. He’ll get a key to LeBlanc however. As for the money, I’m perfectly fine with it. His parents are offering more than the standard rate I held in my mind.”

Sojiro got up and motioned to Morgana. “I think I got a mattress up there. You need to come up and help me with it.”

Morgana smiled. “Thank you, Sakura-san.”

Yuki gestured to the door. “I’ll leave you two to it. I got some other things I need to do. Get settled in, Morgana. Tomorrow, I’ll be taking you to Shujin, unless Sakura-san prefers to take him there. He already has the paperwork filled out; it's in a folder I got right here.”

Sojiro turned around. “I think you can handle it. I still have to manage the cafe, and you know the way there. Just keep him close at all times; I don’t want him to get lost. You heard that, Ito-kun?”

Morgana nods. “Got it. I’ll see you later then, Yuki.” He wisely slipped into the role Yuki expected of him, that of friends. Her heart ached; he was still Morgana, but not the exact same Morgana she once knew, in addition to this Morgana being a human.

* * *

Ryuji was lying in his bed, thinking and thinking.

He always knew from the first moment that Kamoshida stepped foot in Shujin that there was something wrong with the former Olympian. That being said, it didn’t surprise Ryuji when Kamoshida soon unveiled his true colors.

He remembers the sickening treatment he received as part of the track team, which Kamoshida had been coaching after their original coach left under  _ suspicious circumstances. _ It was quite frankly inhumane; Ryuji couldn’t bear it any longer, so he left the track team. As long as Kamoshida held a thumb in Shujin’s athletic programs, his abuse would only continue and he would become ever more so bolder. Ryuji wanted to stop him, but how?

He began to look more into Kamoshida’s past as an Olympian, but as expected, it seems that everything was swept under the rug. When he tried to get his teammates and friends to realize what Kamoshida was doing is wrong, nobody chose to stand with him, arguing that Kamoshida was too insulated by his fame, his prodigy, and the school administration that even if a group of students spoke out against him, they would be snuffed out.

He thought the physical abuse was everything Kamoshida only amounted to; he was proven wrong. He began hearing rumors last year, a couple of months after Kamoshida first showed up, about girls on the volleyball team being called into his office; he quite frankly suspected that Kamoshida was sexually harassing and abusing them, quite possibly even rape as well. He ran into some of the volleyball girls in the hallway; he remembered that they couldn’t even look at his face, much less his eyes. 

Of course, everyone bought into the illusion that there was nothing wrong in the school, even as more athletic volleyball members showed up with injuries, and girls normally boisterous are as silent as mice.

One day during the second semester last year, while he was eating lunch, the Student Council President called for him through his homeroom teacher. Ryuji raised an eyebrow; this was quite surprising, considering how the Student Council was effectively under the thumb of the Principal, despite open and fair elections. 

Makoto Niijima. The previous year, he had known her only as the girl who he always saw in the library. Short, brown hair, deep red eyes, and that look in her eyes… it betrayed a sense of an individualistic self-centered outlook. 

When the rumors about Kamoshida and the abuses first started spreading, she and the Student Council did nothing to rectify the alleged charges, if they were true. Ryuji held no faith that the Student Council could do anything to look after the students.

Ryuji tentatively walked all the way to the Student Council. Surprisingly; it seems as if the other Student Council members are outside the room, looking at him cautiously.

He knocks on the door.

Makoto Niijima opens the door. “Please, come in.”

Ryuji, wary, walks over to the table. He sits at one side of the table; Makoto at the other.

Ryuji looks at her. “Have I done something wrong for you to call me here to talk?”

Makoto Niijima crosses her arms. “Lately, I’ve been hearing that you have been talking to fellow students about Mr. Kamoshida.”

Ryuji snorts. “Is that a crime?”

Makoto continues. “You ask them about the rumors and the abuse, and they’re quite frankly disturbed and unnerved by it. The students you’ve questioned have lodged a complaint against you.”

Ryuji leaned in. “I believe those rumors have a grain of truth. If I questioned them, it was only out of concern for their wellbeing. If these rumors are true, it means that Mr. Kamoshida has been abusing his authority.”

Makoto narrowed her eyes. “So… you’re saying that we should judge an authority figure on outlandish, baseless rumors?”

Ryuji looks her dead in the eyes. “I was the former captain of the track team; I’ve seen firsthand the treatment Kamoshida gave to me and my teammates. Granted, it pales in comparison to whatever the rumors are willing to say, but have you ever heard of escalation?”

Makoto stares at him and Ryuji at her; they maintain this staring contest for what felt like 5 minutes before Makoto takes her eyes off him. 

Ryuji found her formidable; however, she seems to be reaching for something.

She pulls it out, and it’s… a dossier. She puts it on the table.

Ryuji gestures at the folder. “What is this?”

Makoto replies. “I’ve done my own investigation into Mr. Kamoshida. This is all the evidence I have collected so far; currently, there is nothing concrete to suggest that these rumors are true.”

Ryuji crossed his fingers. “Why did you have to tell me this, Niijima-san?”

Makoto sighs. “I get it, you don’t trust me. The Student Council, to the larger student body, always seems like this useless organization. However, we’re not anything like that. We take things seriously, but nobody else knows to what extent.”

Makoto looks at the door. “The reason why I wanted to talk with you today… is to cordially invite you to join the Student Council. When I learned about what you have done, I couldn’t help but believe… that Shujin needs someone like you who cares about everyone despite what others say about you.”

Ryuji sighs and leans back. “I have to say, I didn’t expect this to happen. It was the furthest thing from my mind. Why, though?”

Makoto raises an eyebrow. “I honestly feel the same about you on the topic of Mr. Kamoshida. If the rumors are what people say and they turn out true, then we have to do something about him. If you join the Student Council, you’ll have the pretext and excuse of being someone with authority, which may ease up other people when you’re talking to them.”

Ryuji scratches his head. “Won’t that put them even more on guard then?”   
  


Makoto nods. “It’s definitely a possibility, but you’ll have a proper excuse to use that time. It’s only up to them to decide whether they believe it or not. Back to the question: will you join?”

Ryuji sighs. “I’ll do it, but on one condition: I want to quit once we deal with Mr. Kamoshida. I also want to know everything you have on Mr. Kamoshida so that we're officially on the same page regarding what we know currently.”

Ryuji extends his hand out. “I guess we’ll shake on it.”

Makoto is hesitant, but extends her hand out and shakes Ryuji’s hand. “Mr. Kamoshida will atone for his crimes if we can find and utilize concrete evidence to indemnify him.”

* * *

Ryuji lays in his bed in his room at home, staring at the ceiling.

Ryuji would have liked to say that decision he made yielded some results; truthfully it did, as he was able to collect more evidence regarding Mr. Kamoshida.

However, as to concrete evidence regarding his crimes, he was still at square one. Niijima-san assisted him the very best she could; as the Student Council President, she maintained a degree of frigid professionalism that Ryuji could never hope to embody. That helped him with coaxing some of the volleyball players and other students to consent to individual interviews; however, these interviews yielded nothing of value.

At least, that was until yesterday. Shiho Suzui was always the odd one out on the volleyball team; she only had Ann as a friend, so she was more so isolated from the rest of the volleyball team.

Ryuji unconsciously felt his hand curl into a fist; the things Shiho had said infuriated him. He already had his suspicions about every crime Mr. Kamoshida allegedly did, but Shiho’s testimony only confirmed the absolute worst.

Once Shiho was done with her confession, she was tearing up. Ryuji sent her out, but not before giving her time to calm down and blot the tears rolling down her cheeks. Ann would have murdered him if Shiho arrived at their hangout a crying mess. He wondered if Ann suspected anything; Shiho didn’t seem like the type to disclose everything to Ann, but Ann knew about Shiho being in the volleyball team, and he knew Ann was smart enough to notice any discrepancies.

Once Shiho left, Ryuji was livid. For a split second, he thought about confronting Mr. Kamoshida. However, he realized something. If he did so and got punished, then nobody would be there to look after the students. Makoto had taken time off since March; about what, he wasn’t sure. He doubted anyone else but the Principal knew exactly what happened. He had to bide his time; he had to make sure that someone in charge was still there to at least keep watch on Kamoshida as an impartial authority figure.

His mind wanders back to that strange place he wandered into with Yuki. He couldn’t get his mind off of that. That  _ alternate  _ Kamoshida… he certainly acted with no restraint, almost like the rumors said he did.

Ryuji kept thinking about the proposition Yuki offered him. If the place is an embodiment of Kamoshida’s darkest desires, and if they did something to that Kamoshida, then the real Kamoshida might change.

Ryuji shook his head; even still, it really sounded like a stretch to him. Additionally, he’d prefer to use it as a last resort; he wasn’t too keen on messing with other people unless there were no other options.

His mind then drifted over to Yuki. She didn’t seem too fazed by what she saw in the other world. It almost seemed like… she was accustomed to it, or the very least not surprised. The deductions she made… she had to have prior experience.

Ryuji murmurs, “Yuki Amamiya, just who are you?”

* * *

4/13/16

* * *

Today was surprisingly chill. She took Morgana to school; apparently, the documents Lavenza had handed her warranted his status as a first-year student, similar to Yoshizawa-san. She left him with the documents at the faculty office, before arriving for class.

He could deal with the idea of school, she hoped. However, she did muse that maybe Morgana will finally learn why she always dreaded school.

Yuki found herself idly staring blankly anywhere in the classroom. You couldn’t fault her; she had heard the exact same lecture when she was Ren; she could probably even recite it in her head.

When lunch rolled around, she got up to head to the rooftop as customary. However, outside her classroom, she saw Ryuji and Ann arguing. She inched closer and blended in with some students. 

Ann looked at him. “What the hell did you ask her yesterday about Kamoshida? She didn’t show up today, and she never misses school.”

Ryuji looks at the ground. “It would breach the agreement of confidentiality I offered her when I asked her some questions. I can’t tell you.”

Ann clenches her fist. “I’m her BEST friend, and you don’t think it’s wise to tell me what you did to upset her. Today she missed school, and she never willingly misses school. It’s not in her nature to do so; the only thing that would have made sense is that you asked her some questions that turned her into a mess.” She narrowed her eyes. “Spill it!”

Ryuji shook his head. “No.”

Ann snarled. “Why? I thought I could trust you. Shiho is my friend, and I worry about her. All these rumors about Kamoshida… it’s like you said, they’re just RUMORS! They’re not TRUE!”

Ryuji stared straight into Ann’s face. “Even still, I have to verify the legitimacy of these rumors considering the context of these rumors. If one of those were even true, it would make things extremely complicated and dangerous for the students.

Ann closed her eyes. She breathed in and out. “I thought you were someone I cared for, and truthfully I still do. However, when someone else I also care for talks to you, it doesn’t make me jealous, only worried when that person breaks their daily routine. I have NEVER seen Shiho miss school, and you had better HOPE she’s all fine!” She stalked off, Ryuji just watching her walk off.

Yuki decided to walk up to him. “How was your chat with Suzui-san?”

Ryuji sighed. “I think I gathered more conclusive proof, but we still don’t have any concrete evidence to pin on Mr. Kamoshida. Plus, he’s Shujin’s star coach; it’ll take a lot more than accusations and people coming forward to make him accountable for his crimes. If we don’t play this right, he will walk away scot-free.” He then shifts the subject. “Listen, about that weird place we found that other day…”

Yuki raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Ryuji scratched his head. “I don’t know about it. I’d like to keep it as a last resort; I don’t fully agree with the idea of traipsing around an interpretation of a person’s imaginative reality. That being said, we will use it ONLY if we have no other alternatives or if something major happens.”

Yuki nods. “I guess I’ll have to accept that. What should we do in the meantime?”

Ryuji looks around before leaning in. “I guess we’ll have to keep our eyes and ears out. I’ll keep finding people to testify about him.”

Yuki inclines her head.

* * *

Mishima happened to be walking over to the Practice Building to meet someone when he heard Kamoshida’s voice from his office on the way to the meeting spot. On the off chance, he decided to turn on the recording feature his phone had.

He heard Kamoshida mutter, “So that bitch didn’t come to school today. She can’t escape me; tomorrow when Suzui comes back to school, I’ll send someone to tell her that I need to talk to her. That’s when…” He continued speaking, Mishima only growing more and more horrified by the moment with the words Kamoshida obliviously says that he let out an involuntary gasp.

Mishima quickly fumbled with his phone and shut off the recording function, as Kamoshida’s voice stopped. His voice sounded livid as Kamoshida spoke. “Who’s there!? Show yourselves!”

Mishima ran for it; only when he thought he was sure Kamoshida didn’t find him, he breathed a sigh of relief. In his hands, he held absolute proof that the rumors about Kamoshida are true. However, he feared that Kamoshida would be on his guard, so he decided to wait until the coast was clear before going public on it.

Mishima wondered if Ryuji would like to hear it first. Considering all the rumors about him talking to Suzui, he hoped that Sakamoto was conducting an investigation into all the rumors. This may well be Ryuji’s break in the case if this was true; however, he also had doubts. The Student Council publicly didn’t show any interest in listening to the rumors, and the student body thought that the members were more focused on policing them rather than helping. 

Mishima shook his head. Ryuji wasn’t that person now or ever; even though he hadn’t met Sakamoto face-to-face, he bumped into Ryuji a couple of times and Sakamoto always seemed pleasant, if not a little on guard.

One thing was for sure; this recording will be the talk of the school once it gets out. Kamoshida won’t get away scot-free with the recording painting him as a sexual predator.

* * *

Shiho Suzui was in her bed. She managed to get her parents to call the school to give her a day off, saying that she didn’t feel too well to attempt to go to school.

She remembered Ryuji’s conversation with her about the things Kamoshida has done. She expected Ryuji to be concerned for her, but she saw Ryuji grow infuriated the more and more she went on, despite his best attempt to mask it.

To be honest, she appreciated the concern he showed her; it honestly amounted to more than her parents could ever boast of. Her parents basically do not care for her wellbeing even when she comes home in bruises and welts; it was to be expected, considering how they urged her not to miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

That being said, she loved volleyball and at first, she thought she could learn under Mr. Kamoshida's tutelage.

It turns out she was wrong. DEAD wrong. Mr. Kamoshida slowly began to show his true colors; at first, he indeed was polite, but he over time showed changes in his personality. He slowly became the Kamoshida everyone now knew him as, someone to be feared and also whose directions are to be followed, no matter what they may b

Shiho despised Mr. Kamoshida; he made the very idea of volleyball turn from a sport she took pride in and enjoyed to a sport where she couldn’t find any enthusiasm for.

She makes up her mind as she lies there in her bed. She can’t continue playing in the volleyball club; the thought of playing volleyball now doesn’t bring her happiness but instead to tears as she endures Mr. Kamoshida’s rough coaching along with sexual harassment.

_ I’ll tell him I’m quitting volleyball; I can’t find myself enjoying volleyball ever since he began to show his true colors. I used to love playing volleyball; now I can’t even think about it without having nightmares and bad memories.  _ _ If I stay any longer, I feel like I’m going to drive myself crazy or become manic. _

_ I HAVE TO QUIT. _

  
  



	6. The Brink of Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki runs into Shiho and they have a little discussion about Ann's behavior.
> 
> Shiho confronts Mr. Kamoshida and makes clear her intentions. At the same time, Mishima is attempting to speak to Ryuji about what he caught on the recorder the other day, but he comes at a bad time when Ryuji is making a report to Principal Kobayakawa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Somewhat Graphic Depiction of Sexual Violence. Please do not read if you feel queasy.
> 
> So: this is going to be similar to the canon run of Persona 5, except... well, this is an AU, so some things might change. Shiho will attempt suicide, but will she die? Will Yuki talk her out of jumping off? Will Ann directly witness her friend jumping off (aka She isn't in the classroom when Shiho jumps)?
> 
> This will only get resolved in the next chapter.

4/14/16

* * *

  
  
Yuki, per usual, was heading to the rooftop to eat lunch. She found the classroom far too noisy and filled with whispers regarding the rumors about her, about Shiho’s absence the day before, and about Sakamoto. (Go figure; apparently every girl in the entire school was lusting after him; she couldn’t really see why herself, apart from that brief moment of infatuation the first time she met him).

She was too busy thinking that she didn’t look where she was going. “Ahhh!”

She and another person collided, falling down on their butts. Yuki was a little dazed, but she remembered, she bumped into her. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

Shiho groaned before muttering, “It’s fine. I should have been looking where I was going as well.” She then looked at Yuki. “You don’t look familiar… are you perhaps the transfer student?”

Yuki laughed nervously. “That’s me…”

Shiho raises an eyebrow. “You know, it’s kinda weird how you share that same name with that idol who recently went on hiatus. However, she never would have dyed her hair like this, or even cut her hair the way you did. How did the Principal even sign off on that?”

Yuki continued to laugh nervously. “To be honest, I’m not really sure exactly how. Wait, you’re Suzui-san, correct?”

Shiho looked bashful. “Yeah… I guess you might have heard about me from all the rumors and stuff.” She then looks at Yuki. “You know, Ann has been talking about you a lot. She apparently called you some choice names, but I’m going to ask you if you can forgive her, as her friend.”

Yuki waved her hand. “Water under the bridge. She may act tough, but I know she’s putting on an act. She probably needs to act tough to not allow other people to mess with her.”

Shiho absently nods. “An act… yeah, she’s certainly an actress all right.”

Yuki looks around before whispering, “Don’t let them get to you, all right. You have friends, right? Ann, Ryuji… they’re supporting you in this.”

Shiho snaps out of her stupor. “I should get going now. You should probably get to eating lunch. It was nice talking to you.”

Yuki smiles. “Nice talking to you too.”

Shiho left; Yuki leaned against the wall and contemplated.  _ So far, every event has followed a different timeline, yet they still occurred. If that’s the case, then… tomorrow will be when she tries to commit suicide. When, though? _

  
  


* * *

  
  


Shujin

After School

* * *

  
  


Shiho was just getting out of class when one of the male volleyball members rushed up to her. What was his name? Ishimoto? Yeah, that’s right.

Shiho nervously asks, “Ishimoto-san, what’s the matter?”

Ishimoto nervously gulps. “Kamoshida-sensei wants to see you in his office.”

Shiho’s face paled, and her hands begin to slightly tremble. “Oh? I was actually about to go find him to talk to him about something. I guess he also had something to talk to me as well.”

Shiho walked all the way to the Practice Building, to Kamoshida’s office on the 2nd floor. She hesitated in front, before knocking on the door. 

Kamoshida opened it. “Suzui. You got my message. Please come in.” 

Shiho was slightly scared at the vibe Kamoshida was giving off but she walked in.

_ Click. _

Shiho was slightly panicked. Kamoshida locked the door; of course, she didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. All the rooms in Shujin only locked from the inside; it didn’t set off any alarms in Shiho’s head. “You see… Kamoshida-sensei, I actually had something to tell you.”

Kamoshida gave her a smile, one she knew was as fake as his supposed kindness. “What is it?”

Shiho gulps but managed to say it. “I-I-I’m quitting the volleyball team.”

Kamoshida gave her a blank look. “Excuse me?”

Shiho’s skin crawled; her senses screamed  _ Danger.  _ “Kamoshida-sensei, I want to quit the volleyball team.”

Kamoshida leaned against the wall. “It is your decision after all; can’t I get you to reconsider?”

Shiho shook her head. “N-No. I gave it a long thought; my passion for playing volleyball has disappeared.”

Kamoshida was silent. Shiho took the opportunity to leave. “Mr. Kamoshida, I must get going now. If you’ll excuse me.” She turned towards the doorway. Just then she remembered; he locked the door, but all the doors in the school only lock from the inside. She should be fine to get out.

She barely took one step before she felt a strong hand clamp on her wrist. “I don’t recall ever telling you I agreed with your request.”

Shiho is surprised but prepared. “Kamoshida-sensei, let go of me!”

Kamoshida shook his head. “For not showing up to school yesterday and missing practice, you’ll be given punishment.” His eyes glinted. 

Shiho screamed, “Someone who can hear this, help me! Kamoshida-sensei is…” That was all she managed to do before Kamoshida uses his other hand to clamp her mouth shut. Withdrawing his hand he was using to restrain her as he was firmly grasping Shiho by the face, he rummages for a tape roll in the office. He then slams her into a wooden chair and then restrains her with his brute strength as he uses a piece of thick tape to muffle her, freeing his other hand.

Kamoshida got up, admiring his handiwork, as depraved as it gets. Shiho was staring at him murderously. “You… you bitch, you’ll never get to defy me. Now… for the punishment. I’ll make you regret ever defying me.”

He comes closer and closer.

Shiho tries to scream but it got muffled. “MMMmmmmmmm!! Mmmmmmmm!”

Kamoshida got in front of her. He towered before her as he reaches to unzip his pants.

Shiho could only watch in horror. Her mind blacks out, unable to digest the scene that is unraveling before her.

* * *

Mishima, at the same time, was trying to find Ryuji to share what he managed to capture the other day. The only problem: Ryuji was nowhere to be seen.

Mishima sighed. “Where could he be? This is tantamount. I need to share this with him.”

Ito-san, one of Ryuji’s fellow co-workers in the Student Council, sighed. “He’s giving a report to the Principal. He should be back in a little bit. You can wait here or I can pass along what you intend to say to him.”

Mishima groans. “I don’t have that much time to waste, so I’ll stay here for a bit. If he takes too long, I’m leaving. I’ll entrust you to tell him that I wanted to talk with him.

* * *

“Sakamoto-kun, how are our new transfer students adjusting to Shujin?”

Ryuji looks at Principal Kamoshida with thinly veiled disgust. “Amamiya-san and Yoshizawa-san both seemed to have adjusted well enough to Shujin. However, I keep hearing unsavory rumors about Yoshizawa-san, and worry that it might affect her.”

Principal Kobayakawa leaned forward. “It is a shame. We recruited her and her sister to enroll at our school as honors students in exchange for their effort to represent Shujin in gymnastics. I feel sorry for Miss Yoshizawa considering what happened to her sister, but time marches on. The world moves forward even in the midst of such tragedy, and the surviving twin will still need to prove herself to the school, even though she must be grieving inside.”

Ryuji protested, “Principal! Yoshizawa-san’s--”

Principal Kobayakawa snapped. “Sakamoto-san, I don’t want to hear another word out of you. It’s already bad enough we need to expect that her grieving will hinder her gymnastics performance in the near future, but the world does not care if you’re grieving. As I said, the world moves on from tragedy with or without you; if she does not recover from this, then what is the point of not cutting dead weight the moment we found out her twin sister is hospitalized in a coma?”

Ryuji held his tongue. “I’ll do my best then to lend Yoshizawa-san critical support then.”

Principal Kobayakawa nodded. “I can only expect this of you. Niijima-san would have been the first person I would have turned to, but her fragility combined with her absence has complicated matters further. Now, as for Miss Amamiya, I mandate that you keep a close watch on her on the school grounds as a further part of her expected guidance.”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “Principal Kobayakawa, why?”

Principal Kobayakawa sighs. “It’s on a need-to-know basis, and you certainly don’t possess the qualifications to be designated as someone who needs to know. Let’s just say her parents have a vested interest in keeping her safe and out of harm, and they have connections in Japan. Additionally, I believe I filled you in prior on her situation, although that has far less significance to your duty than the other reasons.”

Ryuji stomached a cough of disbelief.  _ More like, Amamiya’s parents scared the living hell out of him and/or bribed him. _

Ryuji just inclines his head. “Wouldn’t that be an invasion of her privacy?”

Principal Kobayakawa scoffed. “We’re responsible for all of our students’ safety. It only stands to reason that their sense of personal space is limited due to the Ministry of Education’s directive that we look after our students. Of course, her parents also factor into this too; they hold connections to parts of the government and the media. Not to mention, Miss Amamiya herself is a bit of a public figure, being part of such an illustrious family.”

Ryuji nods and exits. As soon as he closed the door, his face soured. Principal Kobayakawa was as rotten as they come; it was clearly apparent that Principal Kobayakawa only cared about himself and his position as Shujin Principal; it was bluntly out in the open that all else paled in importance, except for anything that may threaten his own standing.

He walks back to the Student Council office, sighing. He was in there for quite a while, it seems. He walks in, surprised to find Ito-san, one of his colleagues, still there. Usually, the other members would be done by now, when they were mandated to come in, anyway. “Ito, I’m surprised you’re still here. Usually, you’d left by now.”

Ito turned around. “Sakamoto, Mishima wanted to talk with you. Said it was something really important. However, you’ve been gone for quite a while, so he left. He said he was going to come by tomorrow to talk with you then since you haven’t come back yet. As for why he couldn’t tell me…”

Ryuji shrugged. “Maybe because he thinks he feels comfortable with me since I somewhat know him, even though we never really talked that much before. Or maybe because I’m now the Acting Student Council President, and made a name for myself as someone approachable. Who knows. Anyway, I’m locking up. I’m already done with all my paperwork. You should also get going, Ito.”

* * *

Shiho went straight to her room as soon as she got home; she felt too disgusted with herself. The first thing she did was take a shower; however, she found herself not enjoying the shower she drew for herself. She couldn’t even bear to touch herself; it took her a bit to overcome that hesitation to scrub and scrub she did, furiously. She scrubbed to rid herself of any and all signs that despicable man left on her if any.

That man… Kamoshida… he made her feel unclean. Shiho refused to even think about what he did to her. She couldn’t even bear the implications of it; she was going to get ridiculed and mocked for even reporting it. Kamoshida would squash her report, the school would only point fingers at her, and she’d be left the worse for it. Even Ryuji couldn’t help her one bit when Kamoshida held so much sway as the volleyball star coach in Shujin.

Her parents weren’t even home when she got back; on the other hand, she didn’t even know if it was necessarily a bad thing. Her parents would have not even believed her; even worse, they might call her a liar for slandering someone who has indeed partially helped her in honing her volleyball talents. 

When she was all done with her shower, she crawled into her bed and assumed the fetal position. 

_ Ann, what should I do? I can’t live with myself because of this; even if I report, Kamoshida will only squash it and I’ll be left feeling ridiculous, and everyone will only ridicule me. _

She knew that there was no feasible way she could ever get Kamoshida to feel legitimate guilt and turn himself in when she reports the assault. Indeed, he will only laugh and use his status and connections to shield himself from prosecution, along with making her out to be the type of person who wants attention.

She shed tears; just what can she do? It feels as if everything and everyone is against her. She wept as she fell asleep, whispering an ominous line.

_ What else can I do but… that? _

  
  



	7. The Last Resort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Times ahead; Shiho goes to the roof to try and kill herself, but Yuki manages to plot ahead and follow her. That being said, Shiho is on the brink, and Yuki tries desperately to convince Shiho otherwise, to varying degrees of effectiveness.
> 
> They confront Mr. Kamoshida afterwards given the copy of the evidence that Mishima hands over to them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A seriously dark chapter ahead: you have been warned. 
> 
> I apologize if I am unable to fully capture the running emotions or logic someone who attempts to commit suicide has. It's beyond my grasp considering I don't have these thoughts; I made my best approximation.
> 
> I apologize ahead for any misinterpretations or misrepresentations I may have made in the process.
> 
> Enjoy reading (not really, but comment below any thoughts, critiques, or hypotheses).

4/15/16

  
  
  


April 15th. The day Shiho Suzui in Yuki’s original timeline as Ren Amamiya tried to commit suicide. Yuki hoped that this time, Yuki would be able to prevent her from taking the leap this time around. Considering all the discrepancies this timeline has already shown her, if Yuki didn’t actually stop her this time around, Shiho could very well potentially die. If that were to happen… she would have no idea what she would do. 

The case where Kamoshida should atone for his sins would fall apart; she’d have a hard time not justifying the fact that he should die.

Unfortunately, she remembered that Mr. Ushimaru was teaching the class when it all happened. She grimaced; it would be hard finding an excuse to get out of class for a little bit, but she had to try. She got prepared for school; everything hinged on her intervention.

* * *

School almost seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace, but as Yuki marked the time, it eventually almost reached that moment. 

Mr. Ushimaru had just taken over the class for Japanese History.

Yuki raised her hand. “Mr. Ushimaru. I have to go to the bathroom.”

Mr. Ushimaru stopped and turned around to look at her. She couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind. She was hoping he would not yell at her for interrupting him.

What he did was surprising. He only grumbled. “Women… and all their fondness for hygiene… Amamiya-san, go.”

Yuki just nods and rushes out of there. Now, she needed to pretend she was going to the bathroom. She looked around. Shiho Suzui wasn’t anywhere in sight. She checked the time. It was only a couple of minutes before the actual sighting. She rushed to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, preparing for what is to come. 

She headed out, refreshed. She turned out of the restroom entrance to find a black ponytail flashing before her.

Yuki paled; that could be Shiho. The person wasn’t running but seemed to be walking with purpose.

She speed-walked to the roof, hoping to not draw any attention. As she neared the roof access door, she was increasingly filled with more and more dread.

Her hand closed around the knob. Breathing in and out, she turned it. 

Shiho Suzui was about to climb on top of the ledge, but she heard Yuki open the roof access door. “Who’s there? Don’t try to stop me!” She craned her neck around. “Amamiya-san? Have you come to stop me?”

Yuki took it slow. “Suzui-san. It’s a nice day outside. I’m sure Ann must be waiting to hang out with you again.”

Shiho shook her head. “It may be a nice day, but I’m having an absolutely terrible day.”

Yuki took small, measured steps forward. “So, share it with me. Share it with Ann and Ryuji. Ryuji’s part of the Student Council; he can definitely do something to help. Mishima is a nice guy; all of us want to help you, Shiho.”

Shiho is frantic. She climbs on top of the ledge. “You don’t understand! Nobody can do anything to help me when it’s already over and done! Mr. Kamoshida… he… he… he… raped me. I wanted to talk to him so I could say that I quit the volleyball team because of him, but on my way out, he… restrained me. He tied me up and… violated me. I feel… disgusted… not also at him, but by myself. I let him do this to me… why should I still even be alive?”

Yuki grimaced but continued pressing forward. By now people must have seen her on top of the ledge. “You’re wrong… you didn’t let him take advantage of you; he used his position and his strength to force you. You shouldn’t feel ashamed because you have no reason to; Ryuji and I are gathering evidence and allies to make sure that Kamoshida will pay for whatever he did to you. Your parents…”

Shiho laughed in a rather demented manner. “My parents!? Don’t talk to me about them. They’re the ones who practically forced me to pursue volleyball under him. Even when I came home covered in bruises and welts, they normalized and rationalized it as if it was nothing! I almost wanted to tell them the truth when they got home yesterday, but they would have been apologists, covering for Mr. Kamoshida!”

Yuki took several steps forward. Shiho didn’t seem to care about it. “What about Ann? She’s your best friend. She would be absolutely devastated if she saw you fall over the edge. Don’t make this hard on her; she is your friend and she will do everything it takes to help you. Ryuji, Mishima, and I are all on this together as well.”

At this point, Yuki was only a foot away from her. Shiho shook her head as she stepped back. “No… it’s all over. Everyone will call me a slut, a whore; they’ll say I deserve what was coming to me.”

Yuki shook her head. “Don’t pay attention to them; pay attention to the people who care about you, your friends. We will be there for you as you go through this.” 

Shiho stepped back, but unfortunately, her foot only stepped on air. She resigns herself to fall backward. Yuki lunges forward; it was only pure luck that Yuki managed to grab on to Shiho’s right hand. 

That being said, Yuki lacked the core upper strength for her to hold onto Shiho’s right hand for long.

Shiho yelled at her, “Why can’t you let me go? I want to die. I can’t stand my life anymore! Let me die!”

Yuki is finding it very difficult to maintain her calm composure. “Do you think I would want to watch you die? Allowing you to die would terrify and sadden me; you’re one of the few people who accepted me for who I am, and I’m not letting a friend like you do something that reckless!”

Yuki groans. _My hand is slipping; I won’t be able to hang on to her any longer._

Just then she heard the roof access door blast open. In a flash, Ryuji knelt beside her, reinforcing her hold of Shiho’s hand. “Where were you!?”

Ryuji replies, “Later! Now, on the count of 3, let’s pull her up. 1, 2, … now pull!!!”

Yuki mustered all of her strength as she and Ryuji pull Shiho up over the edge and over the ledge to the rooftop ground. Both of them heaved as Shiho trembles, aware that her suicide attempt had been unsuccessful.

While Yuki was looking over, she saw students piling the hallways and the ground below, taking pictures and using their phones predictably to send SNS messages. She despised that kind of behavior.

Ann emerged onto the rooftop, panting. “Shiho!”

Shiho only looks down and cries, “Ann…”

Ann runs over to her side. “Oh, Shiho… you can trust me. I can help you. We can help you.”

Shiho cries and blubbers, “I...I… know that. Yuki told me.”

Ann looks over at Yuki, who is still recovering from that exercise. It is unfortunate for her that she is not cut out for physical exertion despite being an idol. She lacked lifting heavier objects.

Ann painfully sighs. “I’m sorry… I judged you for being some pretty snot-faced girl who popped out of nowhere to steal Ryuji… but clearly…” She evidently has a hard time saying it, but she managed to push it out. “You aren’t a bad person, judging by what you did. I’m sorry for acting horribly to you.”

Yuki nods her head. “It’s alright. As long as you apologized in the end, everything’s good.”She was glad that Ann made that apology; it showed that Ann was truly irrespective of timeline a good person at heart when it really came down to it.

Just then the teachers burst onto the roof, Principal Kobayakawa leading the pack. Yuki idly noted that Kamoshida was not among them. He halted to a stop, face all sweaty and red. From anger or self-awareness, she did not know. “What!? Explain yourselves!!”

Shiho hides her face. Yuki dusted her legs and stood up. “I apologize. Truth be told, I saw Shiho Suzui rush up here on my way back from the restroom. I followed her and she headed up to the rooftop. By the time I got there, she was climbing up the wall. I tried to talk her down, but by the time I got close enough to prevent her, she stepped back and fell. I managed to grab onto her before she could fall out of my reach, but Sakamoto-san managed to get up here in the nick of time and helped me pull her up.”

Principal Kobayakawa digested all of that. What he said only disgusted Yuki. “Never mind the pretext! Why would Suzui-san do that!?”

Yuki looked at Shiho; Shiho had her face buried in Ann’s protective stance. It was obvious she was still rattled and broken by everything that happened over the previous day. It would be counterproductive for her to reveal what happened or for Shiho to be interrogated. “Suzui-san is still traumatized from the experience. Principal, Sir, I don’t think it’s the teachers’ or my place to ask her what happened. Can someone call emergency services?”

Ryuji nods. “I happened to do so on my way here. They’ll be here soon to escort her to the hospital.”

Yuki looks at Ann. “Are you okay with escorting Shiho there and looking after her?”

Ann, furious, only nods. “Count on me.”

Principal Kobayakawa sputters, “You can’t make the decisions; that’s up to the school to decide!”

Yuki sighs. “Sir, do you really think questioning her is going to achieve anything? If anything, you’ll only make her even more uncomfortable. Besides, the police and emergency services should handle everything else.”

Mr. Ushimaru’s voice rings out. “If I may, Principal Kobayakawa…”

Principal Kobayakawa snaps out. “What!?”

Mr. Ushimaru’s voice is firm. “Amamiya-san, is everything you said true to the last word?”

Yuki nods. “Yes. Sakamoto-san can testify for my character. As part of the Student Council, he should be capable to give an analysis of myself.”

Ryuji looks at her. “It’s true; Principal Kobayakawa made me her student guide; from the past few days, I have seen no reason to doubt her character or her words. She is who she makes herself out to be: a person who cares about others. If she followed Suzui-san, it would only be out of concern for Suzui.”

Mr. Ushimaru looked to the rest of the teachers. “I feel we can trust the two of them with their judgment on this case. Principal Kobayakawa, I second their recommendations as a member of the staff. It’s not our place to question Suzui-san; that matter should be left to the police.”

Principal Kobayakwa’s eyes bulged out. “What!?”

Ms. Kawakami also stepped forward. “I agree; her actions alone transcend our authority to investigate; the police should handle this. As for those two, I have seen only good behavior from the two of them, so I am inclined to believe their testimony. Also, Sakamoto-kun is the Acting Student Council President, so he is to be held to a higher standard of honesty and integrity, of which he has shown so far.”

The other teachers, seeing two of their own speak out, begin to pile on support. Principal Kobayakawa could only sigh in exasperation, his hand forced. “If it must turn out that way, so be it.”

They file out of the rooftop one by one. Ms. Kawakami was the last to leave. She looked at Yuki and Ryuji with something close to respect and relief before leaving. 

Ryuji cleared his throat. “We should probably relocate to the Student Council room. No one would dare to step inside without my or the Student Council’s permission.”

He looks at Shiho. “Is it okay?”

Shiho nods. Ryuji stands up and slopes one of her arms against her shoulder. Good. It seems she can walk. Otherwise, Ryuji would have had to give her a piggyback.

They walked downwards to the 3rd floor. Students piled the corridors, murmuring about Shiho and Yuki. A few boys dog whistled at Yuki; she swatted those away. _Piranhas, the lot of them._

It took a while, but they got to the 3rd floor Student Council room. Student Council members were already there. Ryuji introduced them as Ito-san and Mari-san, two colleagues of his in the Student Council.

Ryuji nodded at them. “Let us in. Don’t let anyone else.”

Just then Mishima rushed up. “Whew! Damn! Sakamoto-kun, I need to talk to you.”

Ryuji sighed. “Can’t it wait, Mishima?”

Mishima shook his head. He leans in and whispers into Ryuji’s ear. Yuki couldn’t hear, but it turned Ryuji’s face pale. Mishima leans back upright.

Ryuji nods. “He’s coming in with us.”

His coworkers in the Student Council, Ito-san and Mari-san, nod.

Ryuji, Ann, Mishima, Shiho, and Yuki enter the Student Council room. Ryuji lays Shiho down to rest on the futon. Upon touching it, she passes out. 

Yuki could only look at her resting. It was predictable; considering everything that happened to her, she should rest.

Ann pulls up a chair to look over Shiho while Ryuji, Yuki, and Mishima took seats at the table.

Ryuji flexes his hands. “You said it could change everything, Mishima. Let’s hear it. You have my word that nobody will know who gave me the information. You can trust these two.” He motions to Ann and Yuki. “Ann deserves to know, and Yuki’s my partner.”

Mishima pulls out his phone and begins tapping. He lays it on the table. “I recorded this two days ago. Have a listen.”

He plays the clip. Kamoshida happens to be ranting about Shiho, explicitly stating his plans with her.

All three of them paled. 

Mishima took the phone and pocketed it. “I’ll send a copy over to you. I’m going back to class.”

Ryuji held up a hand. “Wait. You recorded this. It wasn’t edited or manipulated or anything?”

Mishima huffed. “Of course I took it. It hasn’t even been touched since i stopped recording.”

Ryuji sighs. “I just wanted to make sure.” Ryuji hands Mishima his contact info, and Mishima sends a copy of the unaltered file to Ryuji before leaving the room.

Yuki looks at Ryuji. “This is our smoking gun. Kamoshida’s finished.”

They then heard Ann. “You’re telling me… that Kamoshida’s the one who… raped her? That’s why she… felt like she had to jump? That bastard!”

Yuki looks at Ryuji. “Please don’t tell me she’s going to do anything reckless.” She remembers Ryuji’s rampage in the previous timeline; it was odd to see Ryuji this calm; despite that, she could see his fists clench.”

Ryuji nods. “I plan to confront Mr. Kamoshida directly about this as part of the Student Council. I also intend to aid the police investigation by handing them this audio clip.”

Yuki looks at him. “Don’t you think it’s time to use that other place? Shiho could very well be the only one we know directly.”

Ryuji closes his eyes. “That… I hoped it wouldn’t come to this… but with Shiho’s attempted suicide… we have no choice. We have no idea how far it extends; the volleyball team is certainly impacted, and the female volleyball members have the most to lose by that monster’s hand.”

Ann’s voice interrupted them. “What are you guys talking about? You plan to do something to Mr. Kamoshida, aren’t you? I want to join too.”

Yuki could see Ann’s eyes flicker with rage and anger. She tries to defuse that. “Well, she heard us. Ann, yes. We are indeed planning something. However, we don’t intend to kill him, and your look right now isn’t convincing us to let you join. We intend to make him confess, not to kill him.” She doesn’t see Ann’s look change. She sighs. “I get it, Ryuji and I are just as outraged as you, but the answer isn’t killing him, it’s about making him atone for his crimes. We’ll only let you join as long as you can temper your rage and your bloodlust to make him pay with his life.”

Ann looks away, considering what Yuki said. “Fine. I’ll play along. As long as we avenge Shiho.”

Yuki nods. “That’s our plan, anyway.” She turns to Ryuji. “Also, I found someone else with the strange power of Persona, so they’ll be helping us.”

Ryuji nods. “The more help, the better. Those knights didn’t look like cakewalks to me.”

Yuki looks pained. “First, we should get Shiho to the hospital. Secondly, we should confront Mr. Kamoshida. I hope we can resolve this without making use of the MetaVerse. Finally, you two will need to awaken that power if confronting Mr. Kamoshida proves to be unfruitful, which I highly think will be the case.”

Ann raised a hand. “I keep hearing you say power and an alternate world. What power and what world?”

Ryuji elaborates. “Well, Takamaki-san, let me put it. It’s like your… will of rebellion, right?”

Yuki nods. “At least that’s how I interpret it. That power is what allows us to fight back in that other strange world. As for the world, think about Kamoshida’s interpretation of his reality. That’s how it looks; the school appears to be a castle for him. Additionally, he has perspectives of the people and the students of Shujin Academy; we could potentially see you or anyone from the school, but they’re not _real._ They’re convincing fakes, but that’s all they are, convincing fakes, or cognitions, I would like to more accurately depict them. They're fake replicas of us that Kamoshida believes to be the case.”

Ann looks over to Ryuji. “You already knew all of this?”

Ryuji holds up his hands. “First time hearing about all of that. The first time we went there, we were busy trying not to get killed.”

Yuki nods. “We’ll save the rest for later. Ryuji, let’s find Mr. Kamoshida. Where would he usually be?”

Ryuji nods. “He’s usually at his office in the Practice Building or in the gym. I’ll say that the former would be where we find him usually around this time.” He gets up. “We’re off. Ann, look after Shiho for us. I’ll direct the student council members to not let anyone else in except for police.”

* * *

They left the room. Ito and Mari were outside, fielding the crowd of students from swarming them. “Ito, Mari, I already informed 119 operators that paramedics should come here and take Suzui to the hospital. Don’t let anyone else in except for paramedics.”

Ito and Mari nod. “Understood, Sakamoto-san.”

Ryuji beckons to Yuki. “Let’s go find someone.”

* * *

He was right, Mr. Kamoshida was in his office. On the way, they bumped into Ms. Kawakami. She said that Mr. Kamoshida was in his office, and was tempted to come along to see why they wanted to talk with them, but she had work to do.

Ryuji knocked on his door with clear contempt. After a moment, Kamoshida opened the door. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. _Acting Student Council President,_ Sakamoto-kun? What do I have the pleasure to be greeting you with?”

Ryuji looked him dead straight in the eye. “It’s about Shiho Suzui’s attempted suicide earlier.”

Mr. Kamoshida is clearly a very bad actor or was mocking them as he lamented, “Oh, poor Suzui. Maybe she couldn’t bear the fact that she was horrible at volleyball or had enough of her life.” She bet it was the latter; Kamoshida had no sense of remorse, at least not until they plan to make him grow one through the MetaVerse.

Ryuji is unamused. “Can we come in or not?”

Mr. Kamoshida is confused. “We?”

Ryuji introduces Yuki. “Meet my secretary, Yuki Amamiya.” Yuki looks at Ryuji, alarmed. She wasn’t even part of the Student Council. On the other hand, she’s been associating with Ryuji so much that she might as well be considered a colleague of sorts.

Mr. Kamoshida stares at her. “You’re that transfer student I talked to before Mishima chased me off…”

Yuki gave Kamoshida a thinly veiled look of disgust which he thankfully did not pick up on. She decided to back Ryuji’s alibi about her. “I’m Ryuji’s aide, and I am here to assist him in discussing some information someone at Shujin handed Ryuji-san.”

Mr. Kamoshida did not waste much effort in disguising his fuming, but he let them in nonetheless. “What is this information?”

Ryuji lays his phone out on the table. “Someone at Shujin, under the condition of anonymity, gave me this audio clip.” He plays it. The voice file of Mr. Kamoshida ranting about Shiho’s absence from school permeates the room. He lets it play out and allows Kamoshida to digest the implications of it. He then said, “This was recorded two days ago. The student made an attempt to contact me yesterday, but I was busy delivering a report to the Principal at the time. Today he was able to reach out to me with this message after Suzui’s attempted suicide. Considering everything that you said in the file along with today’s events, I have suspicions.”

Mr. Kamoshida leans back. “Sakamoto-kun, has it ever occurred to you if this is forged?”

Ryuji waves it aside. “The student is well known for their integrity, not that it matters considering the student body is rather full of integrity anyways. The fact that you said that though coupled with Suzui’s attempted suicide…” His face hardens.

Kamoshida smiles. “It’s not as if I said that in pure hatred and anger. You’re forgetting that even an adult can erupt in fits of anger and say stuff they never truly meant."

Ryuji slams the table, his voice cracking with anger. “We are talking about a high school girl, who tried to kill herself today. When I got that voice file, I couldn’t believe it. Someone like you abused their authority and it almost resulted in someone almost committing suicide and possibly dying.”

Kamoshida just continued to smile. “That voice file is insufficient evidence. There’s no evidence of me doing anything to her and she’s clearly too distraught to testify in front of a court. Additionally, my position as coach of the Volleyball team guarantees Shujin students and the school fame and fortune. Do you think the Principal won’t squash this? Nice try.”

His face then hardened. “And to think you would have the gall to accuse me of being responsible for this girl’s death. The idea that you would peddle circumstantial evidence in front of me, if not even forged evidence, is outlandish. I will be sure to have a talk with the Principal about this.”

Ryuji seethed with anger, but Yuki put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go, Ryuji. We’ll just have to go to Plan B.”

Ryuji sighs. “Plan B it is then.”

Kamoshida is clueless but revels in his victory. “Plan B? Bah. You won’t get far in any method you attempt. It’s such a shame though; she was a pretty girl. She would have done fine in volleyball under my guidance.”

Ryuji clenches his fist, but Yuki drags Ryuji out the door before he did anything irrational.

* * *

They walked back to the Student Council room. Mari, one of Ryuji's cohorts in the Student Council, walked up to him. "119 paramedics already came by and wheeled her out. Should we inform her parents?"

Ryuji nods. "As much as they may have possibly contributed to today's case, inform them at least. If Principal Kobayakawa hasn't already. I suspect the hospital will be making a call themselves anyway."

Yuki turned to Ryuji as Mari walks away. "Let's postpone going back to that castle until tomorrow. We don't want to leave Ann behind and besides, if she found out we went without her, she may try to follow us or even attempt to go on her own."

Ryuji nods. "Agreed."

* * *

Shiho is in a hospital bed, looking out the window. She thankfully has little bruising from her fall after Ryuji and Yuki saved her. Ann is sitting next to her, looking at her face.

A knock on the door.

Ann looks at the door with a dubious face. "The doctors already left. Could it be your parents, Shiho?"

Shiho looks away. "I don't want to see them anyway."

Ann sighs. "You probably shouldn't talk about your parents like that... on the other hand, they must be real bastards to let it come to this."

She calls out, "Come in!"

The door slides open. A short blue-haired lady walks in. She's wearing a blue waistcoat and a blue dress shirt with black slacks. "Excuse me. My name is Naoto Shirogane. I'm a free-lance detective contracted with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police department. When this got to the police's attention, I took charge of the case because my intuition told me there was more behind it and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the victim."

Ann's eyes widened in shock. "You're _the_ Naoto Shirogane? The Detective Prince?"

Naoto looks away. "The first. And preferably I hope not to be referred to by that moniker. Those days are long past. Anyways, it's my personal perogative to find out what could cause a bright, happy young girl to have to resort to something both terrifying and horrifying."

Ann didn't see Shiho sit up a bit straighter. "My friend has been going through a tough time for a while."

Naoto nods. "Understandable. I can relate to that in a way; when I was younger, my parents died by nature of a car accident, so I was raised solely by my grandfather. I never made that many friends, at least not until I moved to a small rural town called Inaba 5 years ago."

Shiho spoke for the first time. "I'm sorry for your loss. I don't... know how to respond to that. It's so different from my own situation."

Naoto smiles. "It was a rough childhood, but I made friends in Inaba 5 years ago and they taught me that it was okay to embrace who I was and not let that define me. Even though I am descended from a line of private detectives, my reasons for being one were challenged and then guided by my friends, who taught me those values."

Naoto then gets serious. "Those values are also why I'm here today, to help people like you, Suzui-san. I know what it is like to feel alone, to feel betrayed, but that is always never the case. You are lucky to have friends who will support you. Please, help me. Tell me what happened, and I swear that I will do all that is in my capability to find justice for you."

Ann squeezes Shiho's hand, smiling. "Shiho, it's okay. I only barely met her, and already I feel that she can be trusted."

Shiho finds Ann's hand to be comforting. She nods to Naoto as Naoto pulls out her recorder and other materials to take Shiho's testimony. "Alright, Ann. I trust your judgment. Besides, she seems to be a nice lady. I can tell she meant everything she said."

Naoto begins to set up her recorder and her laptop to write notes and testimony. "Whenever you're ready, Suzui-san. Don't worry, remember that you don't need to push yourself. You can skip or gloss over any parts you feel uneasy to talk about. Now, help me understand what happened and who did this to you. I will make sure that they will not get away with it. You have my word and honor as a detective."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naoto is now officially in the story. She'll be playing a role as she serves to be the reader's eyes in the police force (as Akechi is; more on him later) much as Sae is through the lens of the broader aspect of government, more so the judicial perspective.
> 
> Naoto's method of sympathizing is, I admit, a bit weird, but work with me on it. She has a rough childhood, and so she gets raised by her grandfather. The times we meet her in Persona 4/4 Golden, she was admittedly aloof, but that's due to her upbringing. Yu and the gang, when they save her, find out she's a female, and help her reconcile with it. Yu furthermore establishes a Social Link with her in which she reconciles with herself even further, and if the player so desires, enters a romantic relationship with her.
> 
> Now you may be remarking that Shiho's suicide and Naoto's childhood being raised by her grandfather are two drastically different things and that Naoto would be struggling to relate to it considering how far apart the two would be to even compare. That's true; on the other hand, she does feel compassion for her and decides to share it as a means of relating to her in any way possible and also *power of friendship*.


	8. Audentes Fortuna Iuvat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki, Mona, Ryuji, and Ann infiltrate Kamoshida's Palace in order to bring Kamoshida to justice. They get off to a great start, before being ambushed in the dining hall. There Yuki and Mona are pinned down, while Ann is captured and Ryuji left to fend for himself. Upon being goaded by Kamoshida, they awaken to the power of Persona, beating them back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a while, but I finally got through this. I was kinda stuck on the new Personas because they hold different experiences, which means that the Personas that previously represented them, Captain Kidd and Carmen, don't necessarily fit them as well now. However, finding new figures as Personas to represent them wasn't exactly a cakewalk, as is with Mona, which I stuck with Zorro, because he still has a similar situation, getting used to the idea that he's human despite being an otherworldly Velvet attendant of sorts.

4/16/16

  
  


Shujin Academy

* * *

Today is the day. Yuki is able to finally explore Kamoshida’s Palace since the initial time they went in. Despite Ryuji and Ann this time around not having Personas as of yet, Yuki was confident that she and Morgana would be able to protect them, for the most part. It also helped that Yuki still kept her battle-sharp reflexes from the previous timeline, although if they got trapped or surrounded, even that experience wouldn’t do her much good.

Yuki sent a message to the group chat. _Back Alley. Meet me there after school._ Yesterday, since Ann had informed them she wanted to join in on the assault within Kamoshida’s castle inside the MetaVerse, Ryuji added her into the group chat. Likewise, Yuki added Mona to the group chat; she’ll be relying on him as always for the navigation since Futaba is still currently indisposed.

She always wondered one thing though: how was Morgana so well-versed with using a phone when she had never seen Igor nor Lavenza or even Caroline and Justine use one? She shook her head: even if Morgana was previously created as the amalgamation of the people’s hope, Morgana seemed not really that well-versed in the world itself, a trait that was shared by Caroline, Justine, and Lavenza consequently.

* * *

When the end of school finally rolled around, Yuki made preparations to head over to the back alley. Luckily, she still had time to drop by Untouchables before meeting up to strike a re-kindled friendly relationship with Iwai, who was even more surprised this time around that a girl was interested in replica guns, never mind the fact that she casually recited every possible make of a pistol.

Suffice it to say, Iwai was even more impressed this time around, even giving her more access to a bit more of his stock than the last time around. Unfortunately, aside from picking out better weapons for herself, she couldn’t see the need to upgrade Mona or for that matter, Ryuji and Ann. The weapons their costume manifested still dealt plenty of damage, and the weapons and armor Iwai sold yielded only meager improvements to the gear they currently had. In the future, Iwai would come across better armor and weapons that she could invest in, but for now, it was not the time.

She came back to the back alley. Students were giving them a wide berth; Ryuji possibly had a hand in that due to his unmistakable profile: tall, somewhat built, with that spiky black hair. Ann is there, tapping on her phone. She most likely was still concerned for Shiho and would probably visit her if not for her insistence that Kamoshida had to pay for his transgressions. Mona is suspiciously absent… ah, no, there he is, running with his bag.

Mona huffed after he came to a stop in front of the group. “Whew… Sorry… I’m late.”

Yuki raised an eyebrow. “Why? I was late only because I had to stop by Untouchables. Why were you late?”

Mona just looked away and muttered under his breath. “Nothing…”

Ryuji cracked his neck. “We all here then?”

Ann flips her hair over her shoulder. “Let’s see what you guys were talking about.”

Yuki walks further within the alley. She turns back. They all were standing there like a bunch of idiots. She motions to them. “Let’s get deeper inside the alley. We obviously don’t want to disappear in plain sight, or by any matter, drag other people in. This is for only us to know.”

They looked at each other. Mona was the first to join Yuki. Ryuji and Ann looked at each other in hesitation, but Ann shook it off and walked forward, most likely eager to learn what they were all talking about. Ryuji, realizing he was the last one behind, trudged to Yuki’s side because he already was in too deep to pull himself out.

Yuki took a deep breath. “Okay. Ann and Ryuji, stay close and keep behind me and Mona. Until you have your Metaverse outfits, you’re more sitting ducks. I hate to break it to you like this, but better safe than dead.” She closed her eyes. "Kamoshida, pervert, castle.”

All four of them were suddenly hit with a brief dizzy spell. It forced them to hold onto the wall for support, but it passed.

Ann looked around. “Nothing changed. What the hell was that hocus-pocus you just mumbled? I don’t want to hear about that bastard’s name…” She blinked and saw Yuki walking back in the direction of the school, Ryuji and Mona following her.

Ann shouts, “Hey! Don’t leave me behind!” She rushes after them. When she got to the alley entrance, she took her time to catch her breath. “Why the hell did you walk away? I…” Standing straight back up, she notices Yuki’s and Mona’s costumes first. “Whoa, why the hell are you dressed like that? What is this, Halloween?” She then caught a glimpse of what was behind them. “Is that a castle!? Where’s the school?”

Yuki replies, “These are our costumes. They symbolize our will of rebellion, our ability to defy the people who rule this place, this case being Kamoshida. The castle is how he views the school.”

She glances over at Mona. He was busy observing the castle. Mona’s costume differed somewhat from his time as a talking bipedal cat. Though he still possessed his signature yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, for a mask he wore a more refined and elegant version of a balaclava and wore a black stealthy jumpsuit with buckles. He also wore a utility belt around his waist. Finally, he wore black combat boots. “Mona, you’re on support. Can you handle it?”

Mona is shaken out of his thoughts. “What? Oh, right. Yeah, I can do that. Leave it to me.”

Yuki turns to the two of them. Ann admits, “This place… it’s out of my mind to even imagine it, much less witness it. So this is how Kamoshida views the school; I always knew he was somewhat of a twisted person, but I never thought I’d see... this.”

Ryuji nods. “Even if it’s my second time here, it still amazes me that there could exist a place like this.”

Yuki nods. “This place is going to be massive, and the goal is to…” She looks to Mona. Mona happens to understand, and takes it over from there.

Mona picks up where Yuki left off. “First we need to secure an infiltration route to Kamoshida’s treasure. He’s sure to have one somewhere in the depths of his castle.”

Yuki punches her fist in the air. “That’s right! Now let’s move out. Ann and Ryuji, remember my advice. If you wander off while we’re in there or don’t stick too close, you could very well get captured by Kamoshida’s guards. He’s sure to be on high alert considering the fact that Ryuji and I confronted the real Kamoshida just yesterday.”

She moves off. Mona, Ryuji, and Ann follow into the castle courtyard, which seems to be free of guards. Good. That’ll be…

A voice calls out to her. “Trickster, please come over here.”

She follows the voice to a spot in the courtyard. There Felix is beckoning her with his hand. She goes over. “Felix, does Igor need to talk to me?”

Felix nods. “It’s of relative importance. Surely you might already know what it may be about, but you should nevertheless answer the Master’s summons.”

Yuki nods. Felix opens the door, escorting her through. 

A flash of bright light engulfs her, and she again found herself seated before Igor, with Lavenza standing by his side. 

Igor inclines his head. “Trickster, I see that you have taken your new duty to heart. Now, as in accordance with our contract to aid you, let me remind you of the power you possess. As the Trickster, you possess limitless power. You have the ability to not only manifest a new Persona but also to take within you other Persona as well. Indeed, you should be aware of the purpose of the Persona compendium; its purpose is to store and keep track of all the Persona you have acquired. Lavenza, as you already know, is in charge of your Persona compendium.”

Igor laces his fingers. “In addition, as I said, you have the ability to take within you Persona of other likes and affinities. To add to this, as you are at the start of your long journey with your extensive experience, I have seen fit that you should be granted the ability to handle 12 Personas. I trust you will make great use of it, in your journey.

Igor leans forward. “We have already discussed that Felix will be in charge of Persona Fusion and its respective counterparts. Acquire Persona and fuse them to form even stronger Persona. Over time, we will grant you more fusion and execution techniques as you progress forward.”

Yuki nods as she receives the gift Igor graciously had in mind for her. “Thanks a lot. Igor, is there anything else I need to know? Considering the reality I came from, I’ve noticed some deviances here and there, some major and some minor.”

Igor only gives her a mysterious look. “Trickster, to be wary is better than to be oblivious. Worlds are worlds, and each world has discrepancies, but even someone like I can not predict what can ever happen. All I can do is offer you my support and hope your journey this time around fares as well or better than the last.” 

Igor waves his hand. “One last thing… I have seen fit to grant you the Third Eye. This power will no doubt come to aid you in the future many times over. Now then, it is time for you to go, Trickster. You have places to go, people to see, and Palaces to traverse and suppress.”

Yuki couldn’t fathom what Igor is talking about like always, but she got the gist. She can’t count on him to help her divine the future, other than prepping him for her duties as a Phantom Thief. She inclines her head and steps back through the glowing blue doorway.

She comes to in the courtyard, Ryuji and Ann gathered around her. “Hey… you there?”

Yuki nods. “I’m here. Just had something to do.”  
  


Ann is a little worried about her. “You’ve been staring at that brick wall for a while now.”

Yuki grimaces; how best to explain it, hmm. “It has something to do with my powers here. I kinda have a personal benefactor who helps me hone my powers.”

Mona nods from the back. He was keeping an eye out for any possible guards that might stumble across them, even if the courtyard was completely empty. “She and I both share the same benefactor. However, I guess you can call her… ‘special’... to be more accurate. My benefactor is personally invested in helping her with this place, considering her unique talents compared to the rest of us.”

Ryuji looks at her. “Really? It does seem to me that you know a lot about what we’re dealing with. She should be the leader of this group.”

Ann nods. “As much as I don’t like to say, having you call the shots will save our skins while we’re in this freaky medieval castle.”

Mona nods. “Can’t argue with that.”

Just like that, she became the leader of their little gang once again. Yuki nods. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Mona snaps. “Right, nicknames. We can’t go around using our real names. Not if we want to make it to the far corners of Kamoshida’s castle!”

A silence ensues as everyone tries to think of one. Mona sheepishly smiles, “On second thought, we should hold off on naming you two for now.” He points out to Ryuji and Ann. “He’ll no doubt recognize you two off the bat and you guys haven’t even awoken your powers yet. As for me… what do you think?”

Yuki blabbed the only thing that was in her mind of him. “Buckles.”

Mona looks at her with his arms crossed. “Okay, that’s lame. I’ll be… Bond.”

Yuki looks at him. “Have you been watching those Bond movies? You do look like a secret agent, but it makes me feel like I’ll just reference James Bond movies every time I look over at you.” She ponders for a second. “Let me see… how about ‘Blackjack?’”

Mona looks over to Ryuji and Ann. They were nodding their heads, trying not to laugh. “Blackjack… huh… not bad, I’ll take it. As for you…”

Mona looks at her. “Your persona is Irene, right? After Irene Adler, huh?”

Yuki nods. _How ironic that her original Persona this time around had to be one of Sherlock Holmes’s rivals._ “Why don’t we use your Persona as the basis for your codename? How about Adler?”

Yuki thinks about it. _It doesn’t quite evoke the same feeling as Joker, but somehow Adler has its own unique appeal to it…”_ She clears her throat. “It’s acceptable. I’m Adler and he’s Blackjack, and that’s what we’ll go by for us two.” As for you two…” She looks over to Ryuji and Ann. “Kamoshida will pick you guys out of a crowd even if you went by nicknames considering you haven’t awoken your will of rebellion and your costumes. We'll pick codenames for you two later”

Yuki then clapped her hands together. “For real, now, let’s move out!”

They trudged silently over to the vent opening, which Yuki noted is still unsealed. Even in this timeline, Kamoshida and his guards were still rather incompetent.

They got inside the castle, into one of the castle’s storage rooms. Mona held up a finger as he peeked out of the room. No guards were in the hallway. That being said, she could hear some commotion from the main entrance hall. He fell back to the rest of the gang. “Okay, it’s clear outside, but there are some guards in the main entrance hall, so we’ll have to find a different way moving forward. Of course, we should probably eavesdrop on them, check to see if we can learn anything about their movements.”

Yuki nods. “Good idea, Mona. We can find out more through them. Everyone, be absolutely quiet. We’re going to find out what his guards know.”

She and Mona crept out, Ann and Ryuji only giving each other a look before following. They crept out of the room, making sure to keep out of sight. They hid behind the doorway, listening in on a guard captain and a platoon of guards.

The guard captain announced, “All right, listen up! King Kamoshida is busy elsewhere preparing something, so he has instructed me to give the instructions he entrusted. All of you are to patrol the landing and dungeons. Those visitors we had a while back… King Kamoshida is not willing to take any chances considering they may come back and besmirch his Royal Highness. Apprehend and capture all intruders you come across! For the glory of King Kamoshida!”

The guards chanted back, “For our Lord’s glory!”

The band of merry thieves looked at each other. Mona whispered, “It looks like the Ruler of this castle is busy elsewhere, so we don’t have to worry about running into any powerful enemies anytime soon. On the other hand…”

Yuki finishes Mona’s train of thought. “The golden-armored knight said he was preparing something. You think it could be a trap?”

Ryuji scratches his head. “On one hand I’m gonna say no considering the fact that the real Kamoshida only cares about himself and his glory, so he might be preparing something for his own pleasure, but on the other hand… this is a different version of him, so how should I know the fuck this dream version of him thinks?”

Yuki just looks back. “I guess all we can do is keep our eyes wide open. We have no way of knowing what he’s preparing unless we get deeper within.”

All of them nodded, as they formed ranks around Yuki. She crept back to the infiltration entrance and then noticed a doorway on the other side of the hallway. She crept closer and cracked it slightly open. She peeked through; a single guard paces around in the room ahead. She looked back and mouthed, “One guard. On the count of 3… I’ll fling the door open. The guard will check it out and we’ll ambush it.”

She flashed three fingers and then flipped one down every second. “One!” She flung the door wide open.

The guard flinched at the sound. “What? Has this door just opened right now? I thought it was shut from the outside. The guard walked closer.

“Now!”

Yuki jumped out and flipped onto the back of the guard. “Reveal yourself!” She pulled off the mask the guard had and leaped off as the guard burst into a corona of red splatter. 

The enemy was a Pixie. She was about to call on her Persona when she realized something. This time around, she didn’t have Arsène to down it with Curse; she had Irene, which only had Kouha. The only other thing that Pixie was weak to…

Mona was up first. “Alright. Time for me to get down to business!”

Yuki shouted. “Wait. Use your gun!”

Mona shouted back. “Gun!? If you say so…” He then pulls out a massive machine gun, something similar to a M249. He takes aim through the scope and fires, pelting Pixie with a single bullet.

It falls down.

Mona shouts. “All right! Time to hold it up!”

Yuki and Mona rush in and surround Pixie before it can recover, pointing their guns at Pixie (Yuki was glad she still had a pistol as her ranged weapon; she couldn’t imagine wielding a SMG or something heavier). Pixie groans while looking up at them. “What do you want?”

Yuki states, “Cash or treasure. Nothing else.”

Pixie swoons. “You know, you do have a really confident voice; unfortunately, I… forgot to bring some on me.”

Yuki’s eyes tighten. “Then it’s the darkness of the abyss you shall go to. Mona… you ready?”

Pixie throws up its hands. “Wait! I’m sure we can figure something out, right? No need to do that!”

Yuki looks at Pixie. “Like what? I’m listening.”

Pixie stammers, “Well… uh… you’re surprisingly reasonable… That reminds me… I’m not just one of Kamoshida’s pawns, I come from the Sea of Souls. And now I request to join you.” 

Yuki sighs. “I guess that’s the only thing you have left to offer.”

Mona is slack-jawed as Pixie dissolves into a mask and fades into Yuki’s mask. “What just happened? It vanished… into you.”

Yuki smiles. “Didn’t Igor already tell you? I have special powers.” Ryuji and Ann are equally as stunned; Ann nudges Ryuji. “Hey, uh, have you figured out what the hell she did? And why does she sound so cocky and… confident?”

Ryuji takes a few seconds to formulate a response. “Well… no clue. I guess she doesn’t like to show off in front of others.”

Just then a clattering of boots came in from the side, as another door to the left of them burst open. A guard rushed through. “I heard fighting and…”

He stopped in front of the gang. “Intruders! For King Kamoshida, die!” It spawned into a Bicorn.

Yuki yelled, “Mona, let’s teach this thing not to mess with us.”

Mona formed up around them. “Zorro! Garu!”

The recognizable figure that is Zorro appears out of thin air behind Mona and whipped up a gust of wind that engulfed the Bicorn. Unfortunately, the Bicorn shrugs it off with a whinny.

Yuki smiles. “Pixie, Zio!”

Pixie emerges and blasts Bicorn with a zap of lightning, sending it to its knees. Yuki and Mona surrounded it, and Yuki negotiated with the Bicorn, ultimately convincing it to join her side as yet another ally in her fight.

Yuki turns around. All three of them were slack-jawed. “Hey… not a bad start, right?”

Ryuji whisper-shouted, “Never mind that. I thought you only had one. How the hell did you manage to capture and summon that other one!?”

Mona contemplates it. “I heard Master… Uh, I mean, our mutual benefactor, call Adler here a “Trickster.” If it means what I think it means, then she’ll become our ace in the hole. She can take in multiple Personas and wield them; I believe only a few people possess the potential to wield a Persona, and even fewer possess what our benefactor dubbed ‘the Wild Card’ potential.”

Ann looks away. “I’m so glad I made up with her beforehand. I feel like I’d have regretted not doing so otherwise. She’s like a demon.”

Yuki puts her hands on her hips. “Thanks…? Anyway, we gotta keep going. If we stay here too long, pretty soon we’ll get surrounded.

Yuki walks off. Ann and Ryuji walk behind her, each thinking how this sudden development startled them, with Mona bringing up the rear. 

Yuki, as they progressed deeper, recognized the castle layout. It was mostly unchanged… except for some discrepancies here and there. That being said, there are a few new puzzles that threw her off for a bit. On the way, she managed to recruit a Kelpie, a Silkie, and a Jack-O-Lantern to round off her offensive capabilities. They finally reached a dining room, but before progressing further, they decided to rest at a safe room lying just a few feet before it.

Everyone took a seat, resting and recuperating for the next leg of their trek through the castle. Yuki called out to everyone, “You guys good? We can always call it a day and come…”

Ann slammed the table. “No! I want to get this done and over with! I’m not letting anyone else get subjected to the horrible things Kamoshida did to Shiho! Shiho deserves swift justice!”

Ryuji interjects, “I know, Ann. Me too; I don’t want Kamoshida to remain free and at large any longer… it’s just that we shouldn’t tire ourselves out too quick.”

Mona adds, “It’s all right that you’re fired up, but we’re the only people currently capable of making Kamoshida pay for what he’s done. If any of us falls, it’s over for them.”

Yuki strides over and puts a hand on Ann’s shoulder. “I get it, Ann. Truly I do; however, we need everyone to be in tip-top shape if we plan to succeed. That said, I’m sure all of us want to keep going, right?”

Ann and Ryuji nod. “Right. It doesn’t even seem like you two are fazed too much.”

Mona gasps, “Speak for yourselves! You two aren’t fighting; I can already feel myself getting slightly tired, but I’m still ready to go for a while longer.”

Yuki inclines her head. “I’m alright for now. However, we should probably call it a day by the time we get to our next safe room. Fatigue is starting to set in.”

They rested for a while before exiting the safe room. They entered the dining room; the room is rather immaculate for a dining room, with dishes and cutlery assembled nicely. However, something felt off… there weren't any guards around in such an open space and it was silent… too silent.

Yuki turns around. “It’s a trap!”

Just then, the door they had just walked through had bars impale downwards. Guards spawned in right behind them. 

Yuki shouts, “You two, get behind us!”

Ryuji and Ann huddle in between Mona and Yuki, who drew their melee weapons. Mona drew his scimitar, and Yuki her sword. She and Mona cautiously shift their stance as they tried to cover Ryuji and Ann.

From the other end of the room, more guards spawned in, but they made a pathway.

And there he was. Shadow Kamoshida, looking just as hideous and ghastly as the first time Ryuji and Yuki saw him, in the same outfit that Yuki as Ren encountered him in the other reality. Yuki always wondered, of all the outfits Shadow Kamoshida chose, he had to wear a stupid Speedo and just a cape. _It must be a power trip with him._

Shadow Kamoshida gloats. “Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. I knew you guys would eventually come back. It’s payback time for that time you locked me in my own dungeon. And I see you brought new guests… well, I’ll be sure to take my time torturing them too.”

Ryuji shouts, “You’re appallingly sick, Kamoshida!”

Kamoshida smirks. “Heh, what would a track traitor like you have to say? You abandoned your friends for some glorified post, and all you have to show is nothing besides your fake compassion. You let me walk all over them, while you were pretending to think you were keeping me in check.

Ryuji’s face paled; he knelt down. “No, no, that isn’t true…”

Yuki shouts at him. “Ryuji, don’t listen to him!”

Shadow Kamoshida turns to Ann. “As for you… you’re a surprisingly well-made fake of _my_ Ann… but do you think that Suzui didn’t enjoy what happened to her? I can tell you that she must have enjoyed it even a little.”

Ann pales as she collapses into a mess. “No…No… Shiho… you’re wrong! She’d never enjoy anything like that!”

Just then, two cognitions ran up to him. Yuki was boggled. It was Shadow Ann, and Shadow Shiho? Even then, there were differences. Shadow Ann was dressed in a sexy lace bodice unlike the time where he saw Ann’s cognition clad in a bikini and cat ears; Shadow Shiho was dressed as a bunny, albeit in a more sexualized manner. She only knew that Kamoshida possessed the idea of Ann as a cognition. She had never imagined that Kamoshida would be so depraved to have the idea that Shiho is his property.

Mona nudges her. “What should we do? We’re surrounded!”

Yuki grits her teeth. “We protect them, at all costs!”

The guards spawned into too many Pixies, Jack-O-Lanterns, Kelpies, and Bicorns that the both of them could not fend off. However, they will protect them or die trying.

Mona and Yuki shout, “Persona!”

“Garu!” “Agi!”

Their combined attacks bowled down a small portion of the guards, who were now proceeding cautiously towards them.

Yuki calls up Pixie. “Zio!” 

A bolt of lightning sears a Bicorn into ashes. Still, there were too many guards to deal with!

She kept spamming magic to thin out the number of guards, but there still was too many.

Mona shouts, “Aargh!”

Yuki turns around. A Pixie had gotten him with a Zio; he laid flat on the ground, winded. “Mona!” She rushes over, dodging the Agis and Garus directed her way, as she fires down the Pixie.

Just then, a Bicorn did a Lunge. She tries to switch to Pixie and cast Zio but found she couldn’t, lacking the spiritual energy to do so. She switched into Irene and braced herself for the impact. _This is going to hurt._

The Bicorn slammed into the both of them, sending them flying across the room and into some tables, smashing the tables and covering them in broken timber wood.

The guards then despawned from their Persona forms. King Kamoshida, cuddling with his two cognitions, shouts directions. “Apprehend those two and restrain her. I have plans for him.” He points a finger at Ryuji.

The guards grab Yuki and Mona, groaning from underneath the wreckage, and pin them down on the ground. 

Two guards walk towards Ann, pinning her up against a wall by her hands, despite her furiously kicking them in the sides.

King Kamoshida strode slowly towards Ryuji with a guard flanking both sides of him, the two cognitions still grasping his body. “You, Sakamoto, will get to witness the pleasure that is me killing your friends. And then you will witness me rape her.” He points to Ann, whose face is shaking in pure horror and anger. “And then you will die, knowing you’re a failure who wasn’t able to save his friends. You thought you could do something to me if you become a Student Council member? What do you have to show for it? All you are is bark and no bite. I was surprised when you came and visited the real me yesterday; it seemed that you had teeth, but in the end, your efforts amounted to nothing.” He gestures to the guards holding down both Yuki and Mona. “Guards, ready your weapons. Execute those two on my mark!”

Ryuji pales. "No... you're wrong. I always meant well..."

Yuki shouts, “Ryuji, you’re nothing like he said. Fight! You care about other people, and you knew that your hands were tied, but that didn’t prevent you from helping others.”

Kamoshida laughs. “Look on as these worthless scum die for nothing because they sided with useless trash like you!”

Yuki shouts, “Ryuji! Don’t take that! Fight back! You can do something for everyone, for Shiho!”

Ryuji slowly gets up. "You're... right.” He directs his harsh gaze at Kamoshida. “All you think about is using and taking advantage of people… you’re the real scum of the Earth, Kamoshida!”

He takes a few steps forward before he clutches his head. 

Mona shouts, “Is that…!?”

As Ryuji clutches his head, a voice calls out to him. “You seek power, correct? You seek the ability to change things for the better? Then let us form a pact. Since you have taken the mantle of responsibility, why not use that responsibility to don a suit of power and wield it to smite injustice? The ‘other you’ within you has been waiting long for this to come to this… I am thou… thou art I… There is no turning back… This is what you have been waiting for!”

A mask artistically resembling a cross between a fencer’s mask and a simple visor colored greyish-black appears on Ryuji’s face. He then pulls it off, screaming, and erupting in a pillar of blue flame. Kamoshida and his guards were taken aback by the spectacle.

When the flames died down, it revealed a Persona that Yuki was unfamiliar with. “This… This is my Persona… And now… you will pay for every crime you have done! Galahad, let’s show them how it’s done!”

Yuki spaces out. _Galahad… not Captain Kidd? This is a new development… Is Ann going to have a different Persona as well?_

Kamoshida shouts, “This one too!? Kill those two now! Leave the girl be, I’ll deal with her later.”

Ryuji shouts, “Not if I have anything to say about it. Galahad, Zio!”

Galahad charges forward, using the tip of its spear to point towards the ceiling. A bolt of lightning zaps the guard pinning Yuki down. Before the other guard could react, Yuki grabs her sword and slashes it at the other guard, making it dissolve. She extends a hand towards Mona. “Mona, you okay?”

Mona, groggy, accepts her hand. “I’m fine. It was kind of a doozy, though.”

Yuki nods. “Well, don’t get complacent yet. It’s not over.” She then looks around. “I thought there were more guards around… what happened to them?”

She then looks at Ryuji. He and Galahad were busy causing havoc around the room that most of the guards seem to already have been defeated.

She and Mona rush over to free Ann, but Kamoshida and a small contingent of guards thwart them. “Ah, Ah, Ah, not so fast. Not unless you want her to die and carry back a corpse…”

Ryuji joins their side. “You bastard? You dare take her as a hostage?”

Ann groggily snaps to attention. “What?”

She then is met with the appearance of Cognitive Ann and Cognitive Shiho.

Ann mutters, “What the hell are you two?”

Cognitive Ann giggles. “Wow, she sure is dumb for someone that looks like me. We’re here to serve our Lord and be his playthings. We will do anything he will say.”

Cognitive Shiho adds seductively, “We enjoy pleasing our Lord and savior King Kamoshida in many ways.”

Ann cracks. “Shiho… please, tell me, this isn’t true!”

Ryuji yells, “Snap out of it, Ann! You know the truth! You know Shiho will never say she enjoyed it! You know how she truly feels!” He takes a step forward.

Shadow Kamoshida snaps a finger. The guard unsheathed his sword and held it against her neck. “One step closer and she dies. She will become my slave now…”

Ann said pointedly, “What?”

Kamoshida repeats. “It’s like I just said. You will become my slave, and slaves should just behave…”

Ann darkly said, “...Shut up. I’ve had enough of this. Being captured? Being used as some kind of bait? Being your slave? Spare me the ridicule. I will NEVER become your slave! You’ve pissed off the wrong girl, you son of a Bitch! And now, you will pay for it!”

Just as Ann finished speaking, she too convulsed in agony. 

In her head, a voice spoke. “Finally, you have realized the truth. Forgiving him, that was never an option, but to submit? That was never something you ever will consider, have you... If you do not avenge her… then who else will? Realize now the fact that you will never willingly leave yourself behind when it comes to matters of vengeance… that is what your true self desires… I am thou… Thou art I… We can finally forge a contract…”

Ann’s head, in the midst of this, turns and twists rapidly, before falling limp. The others feared the worst, but they then heard her whisper, “I hear you…” Yuki was unable to tell what she said next, but her mask appeared. It was remarkably different from the mask she in a different reality wore as Panther, with gilded lilies and roses etched through the entire more angular mask, one fit for a day at the court of some monarch. Instead of cat ears, a design of elegantly etched vines adorned the top.

Ann, with superhuman strength, managed to break free of the guards’ grasp. Shadow Kamoshida, upon this realization, cried, “Forget taking her prisoner. Kill her before she can do anything else!”

The guards raised their swords, but Ann was a hair quicker. She pulls off the mask just as the guards proceeded to slash with their swords. 

A column of blue flame erupted around her, vaporizing the two guards and startling Kamoshida and his two cognitions.

As the flames died down around her, Ann stepped out, adorned in brown heeled boots, black linen tights, a long rustic white shirt covered by a vestment, and topped off with a very wide-brimmed hat. At her side, she had a whip (Yuki saw that it looked different, somehow).

Shadow Kamoshida stepped back. “This one as well? What is this? Guards, dispose of her now!”

Two guards from his entourage charged her. Ann unfurled her whip and whipped it around one of the guards. Yuki couldn’t believe her eyes; it had barbs at the end. It grappled onto one of the guard’s arms. Ann yanked on it, and the guard lost grip of his sword, all the while having barbs grip onto his sword hand. Ann picked up the sword and charged. The guard opposite him took a ready stance, but Ann yanked the whip and the guard she had entangled got whipped into the other guard. The other guard’s sword impaled the entangled guard; oops. While the guard was trying to regain his bearings, Ann closed the distance and stabbed him. The other guard dissolved.

Shadow Kamoshida is silently watching with fear. Ann points the sword at him. “You’re next, bastard.” She rushed in towards him.

As she closed in on Kamoshida, Cognitive Ann and Cognitive Shiho detached themselves to shield him. She leaped forward, cleaving upward. It sliced like butter through Cognitive Shiho on Ann’s right, continuing straight through Cognitive Ann on Ann’s left. One of the guard captains then used his sword to parry Ann’s sword.

Clang!! The guard captain uses his weight to push Ann back with the blunt flat edge of his sword.

Ann jumped backward. Yuki, Ryuji, and Mona move to regroup with her. Ann discards the sword. “Bastard, I’m not some cheap girl you can toy around with… scumbag.”

Shadow Kamoshida spat back. “Bitch…”

Ann continued. “You ruined Shiho’s life… Now it’s my time to pay you back twofold for all the hurt you caused her… It’s time you learned to fear women because if you think we’re not capable, I’m about to prove you that’s not the case!”

Shadow Kamoshida shouts, “Guard captains! Forget the original plan! Kill them all, starting with that insolent bitch!”

Guard Captain A shouts, “You lecherous bitch! You will pay for besmirching our Lord’s name!”

Guard Captain B shouts, “When we’re done with you, you’d have wished you’ve taken our lord’s generous offer!”

They dissolved into red bursts, revealing a Belphegor and a Jack Frost.

Jack Frost shouts, “Hee Ho! I will freeze you into statues for our lord to laugh at, before shattering you into a million pieces!”

Yuki shouts, “Battle formation, everyone!” The four of them got into position. She looked at Ann and Ryuji. “First battle for you two. You guys ready for this?”

Ryuji nods. “We were born ready!” Ann smiles. “I’ve been dying to give him a piece of my mind.”

Yuki gives a faint smile back. “Good, get ready!” She sees Belphegor and Jack Frost are about to attack. “Guard!”

Belphegor and Jack Frost cast Mabufu. Fortunately, all of them manage to tank the two-cast Mabufu relatively well. 

Yuki nods to Ann. “Cast some magic!”

Ann smiles. “Finally…” She grabs her mask. “Morgaine, come to me! Agi!”

_Morgaine, huh… So not Carmen… these two have different Personas while Mona still has Zorro as his Persona… I’ll figure this out later…”_

She targets Jack Frost and lands the Agi. Mona shouts, “Effective! Continue attacking!”

Ann nods. “Agi! Target that giant toilet demon!” Yuki already knew Belphegor’s and Jack Frost’s weakness, but she couldn’t remember every Persona’s weakness off the top of her head. 

Mona shouts, “They’re all down! Hold up!”

The four of them drew their guns, preventing Jack Frost and Belphegor from recovering. Yuki noted the giant shotgun in Ryuji’s hand, expected, but she noted Ann wielded a SMG in one hand, and a mini crossbow with a telescope sight in another, dangling downwards.  
  


Yuki shouts, “All-Out Attack!” They jumped backward, as they leaped into the air, dashing at the two stunned enemies, slashing and hacking at them.

As they finish their coordinated team attack, both the enemies seem to still be standing, but they looked more tired. 

Yuki shouts, “Mona, you’re next!”

“Garu!” A gust of wind envelops Jack Frost but doesn’t take it down.

It was her turn. _Both of them are weak to Agi, so…_ “Jack-O-Lantern! Agi!”

Jack-O-Lantern sends a hurtling fireball at Jack Frost, dissolving the unfortunate Jack Frost. Yuki punches her fist skyward. “Another Agi!”

Jack-O-Lantern sends another hurtling fireball at Belphegor, which knocks it down to the ground.

Mona shouts, “Surround it!”

They surround the dazed Belphegor. Yuki smirks. “Any last words?”

Belphegor, dazed, snarls. “You blasphemous fools… you have no idea just who you are dealing with…”

Yuki yawns. “Blah, blah, blah. Everything you say is unoriginal. All-Out Attack!”

Another All-Out Attack ensues, and unfortunately, Belphegor couldn’t take the brunt of this one. He dissolves into ashes upon their finish.

The battle concludes, and the group fist-bumped each other. Unfortunately, they looked around, and it seems Kamoshida fled in the midst of this chaos. 

Ryuji shakes his fist. “Come back here, coward!” He takes a few steps forward, only to stumble.”

Ann shouts. “What he said! Come on, let’s hunt him down!” At least, that was what she said before she collapsed, her legs sprawled on the ground.

Yuki and Mona move to support them as they get up, Mona helping Ryuji and Yuki helping Ann. “I think we should retreat for today. We made good progress today, but let’s not push our luck. We’ll need to be in tip-top shape to confront Kamoshida.”

Ryuji sighs. “I guess you’re right. I’m feeling beat.”

Ann shouts, “I’m still pumped! Come on, let’s keep going. I’m going to avenge Shiho. Hey, let go of me!!”

Yuki points at her knees. “You’re about to collapse if I let go of you. Give it a rest for today, please. Otherwise, I’ll drag you out screaming and then bench you.”

Ann shirks at the threat. “...All right, you win.”

They retreat back to the safe room and then utilize a distortion in the Safe Room to safely travel back to the entrance, from which they exited Kamoshida’s Palace.

  
  


* * *

They reappeared in the alleyway, heaving and crouching over.

Yuki looks at all of them. 

"Now, the fight to avenge Shiho truly begins."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuki -> Adler - Irene Adler; I mean I was considering Jester, but it doesn't quite evoke the same kind of feeling as Joker. Plus, probably saving that down the line.
> 
> Mona -> Blackjack - Kind of a personal pick for me (not the card game and definitely not the idea of the blunt club)
> 
> Morgaine - one of many monikers for Morgan Le Fay - imagine a nerfed Naoto with no Mahamaon or Mamudoon - her move set is pure magic like Carmen and Hecate is, but with wide natural elemental type coverage, with her learning fire, then electricity, then wind, and finally ice (No Nuclear, Psy, Bless, or Curse skills).
> 
> Galahad - Knights of Round Table (Initially chose Lancelot, but Lancelot is kinda... eh... considering he betrays Arthur down the line).
> 
> Conceiving their second Evolutions as of this moment.
> 
> As always, please comment anything you may have on the story down below.


	9. A Shadowy Misdirection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoto and Yu discuss and recount the reasons why they are in Tokyo, along with discussing cases they are currently taking on, along with a personal favor Mitsuru requested from them in return for a favor they need themselves.
> 
> The Shadow Operatives are feeling the tightening of Japan's bureaucratic system and want to understand why it is happening. At the same time, a Kirijo Corp scientist researching Personas and the Dark Hour (so Supernatural phenomenon) dies in his sleep, with symptoms being eerily similar to the mental shutdown victims, of which the Shadow Operatives suspect that the Psychotic Breakdown incidents are also tied to as well. They do some investigation before Mitsuru contacts Yu and Naoto with a tantalizing offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a slight deviation from the main story, to world-build and do some character motivation and development. We get to understand why Naoto and Yu are in Tokyo, what the Shadow Operatives have been doing (fanfiction-style) in the time of Persona 5, and how much Kobayakawa is in cahoots with Kamoshida and simultaneously the Conspiracy.

4/17/18

Narukami and Shirogane, Investigators 

Office

* * *

Naoto Shirogane is tired of drama. Plain and simple. The police, Public Safety; idiots, the lot of them. She wouldn’t go as far as to call everyone in the entire police force and government-sanctioned investigation division a basket of deplorable people; there were a couple of bright stars within the police force and Public Security that had the brain cells to spare to know when their orders are, in Naoto’s own words, complete and utterly designed to salvage the status quo or to fulfill the brass’s own greedy objectives. That said, with the top brass being only worried about their own positions and the accomplishment of their objectives and the rest worrying too much about themselves and their families’ wellbeing dependent on their job to defy the brass’s orders, Tokyo’s police is effectively hamstrung in its attempt to investigate crimes, and even then, with the brass’s objectives in mind, there weren’t that many times where true justice was found for the victims.

Shiho Suzui’s case marked one of those times where she could feel pleased about the results. Takamaki-san had told her that other students had managed to produce a recording of Kamoshida’s intent a day prior to the sexual assault Kamoshida exacted on Shiho-san. Additionally, she mentioned that some other students on the volleyball team have been looking beat up after practice and that there were also rumors about Kamoshida also having sexually harassed other females prior to this. Naoto felt confidant that in a court of law, the judge will take one look at the evidence and sentence Suguru Kamoshida to a prison sentence fit for his transgressions as a sexual assaulter. 

She thoroughly enjoyed her work as a Private Detective on liaison to the Police Department. She ran her own detective agency with a partner; the benefit of this arrangement is that this partnership afforded her the authority to go out on official cases and due to her reputation, the police were at best willing to give her the time of day to hear out what she had to say. The downsides of this arrangement were that due to her arrangement, she didn’t hold as much sway with the brass as much as a full-fledged detective would, but considering her past, she won’t let it hold her back.

A voice snapped out of her thoughts. “Naoto… Naoto! I was wondering if you had time to look over some documents for me.”

She looks over. Yu Narukami was poking his head out of his office. She laughs awkwardly. “Sorry, Senpai. I’ll gladly help you; just let me finish writing my thoughts on my case.”

Yu steps out of his office. Yu Narukami was and still is her Senpai around 5 years ago. She had been assigned to the Inaba Police Department at that time to apprehend the suspect behind the serial murders; Yu and his friends Chie and Yosuke were also investigating them as well, though she was unaware. Eventually, she got thrown into the TV world, a supernatural world from which she gained the power of Persona through accepting her Shadow. She joined Yu and his friends in helping uncover the truth, which turned out to be that Tohru Adachi, one of Naoto’s liaison colleagues employed with the Inaba police force, was the mastermind behind the serial murders. In the end, they were able to apprehend Adachi and also determine the origin of the fog and how Adachi was able to throw his victims into the TV, which they had been investigating.

Yu’s silver hair shines in the light as he remarks, “Naoto, we’re both adults now. You shouldn’t call me Senpai now, we’re partners now.”

Naoto looks over at him, unamused at the blatant lie. “And yet still you let Rise call you Senpai. That girl has been head over heels with you since the beginning when she moved to Inaba. Are you two dating or even engaged?”

Yu sheepishly laughs. “Guilty as charged. Anyway, we’re not engaged yet. She’s still promoting her new album even if she always makes time to call me every night. I think she’s hoping that once she finishes promotion, she wants to get engaged quietly. I mean we’re already living together, even if she’s touring across the country most of the time.”

Yu strides over to Naoto’s desk. “You’re in charge of that sexual assault case, Naoto, right?”

Naoto nods. “It should be an open-and-shut case. There’s simply too much evidence stacked against the man. A sensible judge and jury wouldn’t even need to consult all the evidence before coming to a verdict for the man.”

Yu shakes his head. “I know, Naoto. We have to do it right for Suzui-san; the outcome of this case will drastically affect her life moving forward.”

Naoto sighs. “Society has always been a sort of embarrassment when it came to sexual assault victims; they’re victims, and society, through the idea of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, chooses to indemnify them to a life of othering and distancing.”

Yu pats Naoto’s shoulders. “I know you’ll work your hardest for her; you of all people should know the struggles of what being a woman is.”

Naoto laughs. “To think I wouldn’t be able to come to terms with myself if you and the others didn’t step in to save me in the TV World…”

Yu then gets serious. “While we’re on the topic of cases… how’s that favor of ours coming along?”

Naoto groans. “Nothing new that came up. I just recently got called to investigating that train incident and got to sit in and listen to the interrogation of that train conductor, but he had no idea what happened. It was like a blank slate for him.”

Yu half-chuckles. “I’m beginning to wonder what we’ve gotten ourselves into. We both thought this favor from Mitsuru was going to be something on the side, but now I’m feeling invested in finding out the truth of this, no matter how many hours I have to put into it.”

Naoto grimaces. Despite her status as a Shirogane and the heir to the Shirogane fortune, Yu and she initially opened a detective agency in Inaba; however, they weren’t particularly the most business-savvy people and failed to realize that after the serial murders, Inaba once again became a quiet town with not much crime happening. Even with Naoto’s fortune, they weren’t able to keep operations longer than a couple of months at that rate with the office rent and being bored, even with Yosuke’s and Rise’s business acumen being called upon for help. 

Then she called. Mitsuru Kirijo. It had been several years since they last ran into or even talked with her, even though they kept in contact with Labrys in the meanwhile.

Somehow Mitsuru had gotten this information, most likely through Labrys, and contacted them. She offered them pretty attractive terms. She would sponsor their agency movement, arranged a lease agreement in Shibuya of all places, and offered to put up all the funding for moving and lodging costs in addition to helping them salvage their detective agency. Additionally, the Tokyo Police Department would be most likely delighted to have the original Detective Prince to help consult with them on official police matters, despite having Goro Akechi, her successor to the title, consulting regularly with them on the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown cases.

Of course, Yu and Naoto both knew that she wanted something out of this arrangement and confronted Mitsuru about it. Mitsuru of course knew that Naoto would obviously suspect something, and laid out the real deal. 

* * *

  
  


10/19/15

  
  


* * *

5 years later after the two incidents in Inaba with Sho Minazuki, the Shadow Operatives had grown to a more sizable task force under Public Security, but as of a year ago (both Yu and Naoto were finishing university at that time), something strange happened. One of the Kirijo corporation’s leading researchers on the supernatural and Personas died in their sleep; the issue was that he died, in the words of the coroner, by no associated disease or had any family history of deadly genetic conditions. There was blood gushing from his eyes and mouth, and the researcher’s eyes were completely sunken. Mitsuru suspected that someone had murdered the researcher, but while she was preoccupied with investigating what would now be dubbed a “mental shutdown,” the National Diet had made further internal restrictions on the Shadow Operatives, to the point where at that time she called, they were languishing in limbo with no authority to investigate supernatural effects. That said, she authorized clandestine operations in Tokyo, the epicenter of the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown cases, to determine what had happened to the researcher, given the similarities. The teams returned with nothing beyond tales of people having no recollection of their actions and people with blood streaming from their eyes, symptoms similar to the researcher.

Mitsuru suspected that these cases were tied to a Persona; at first, she suspected Sho Minazuki was related somehow to this new development, so she tasked Aigis to locate Sho. It took a month, but Aigis was able to locate Sho in the outskirts of Osaka, who joined the Yakuza in exchange for food and lodging.

When Aigis approached Sho, he laughed, mocking how the powerful Mitsuru Kirijo had indeed sent her lackey to finish him off in the end after all.

Aigis handed him her phone and Mitsuru spoke on the other end. “Minazuki… Glad to see you’re well.”

Sho spat, “Kirijo… Don’t think you can expect me to ever forgive you for anything. Anything! Your robot here is pissing me off so much I’m inclined to slice and dice it and sell the tech to the highest bidder.”

Mitsuru sighs. “I know, Minazuki. I heard you 5 years again and I still remember now. Though I know what you're going to say, I’d like to make my offer again; will you become---”

Sho cut her off. “I like my freedom. Even if I am in the Yakuza now, the people here treat me like I treat them. I’m one of their front-line fighters, and they treat me like a king. If I accept your offer, I’ll hate every second of it. I know you aren’t here to ask about this; you have three seconds to say what you want to say before I’m disconnecting this.”

Mitsuru spoke. “Mental Shutdowns. Psychotic Breakdowns. Tokyo. Heard anything about it?”

Minazuki guffawed. “Well, yeah… wait, were you suspecting me of doing this shit? I pegged you for a smart one, Kirijo, but I never knew you were this dumb.”

Mitsuru just groans. “Minazuki, dealing with you is exhausting… have you heard anything about it?”

Sho scratches his head on the other side of the line. “Now that you mention it, some bald dude with a couple of bodyguards came by the boss’s house talking about it. I can’t say any more but looked like they were cutting a deal.”

Mitsuru snapped to attention. “Details. What did this bald man look like?”

Sho lazily spouts off, “Tall, has tinted glasses, a goatee.”

Mitsuru is steadily becoming alarmed. If it is who she thinks it is, then things got more complicated. It could be a conspiracy at work. At least she now knew the person most likely responsible for the increased legislative quagmire that trapped the Shadow Operatives in a bureaucratic hell in addition to a primary suspect for enabling the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown cases…

Mitsuru cuts him off. “Thank you, Sho. Do you want one thing, anything?”

She could imagine in her head Sho’s grin splitting his face. “Now we’re talking, Kirijo… let’s see… I want a Lamborghini and a monstrous refrigerator filled to the brim with expensive A5 wagyu and Kobe beef.”

Mitsuru only waved him off. “Those are two things, but fair enough. Thank you for the intel. Aigis will take care of the arrangements. Can you put her on the phone, please?”

She could hear shuffling from her end before Aigis was back on the line. “Yes, Mitsuru-san?”

Mitsuru clears her throat. “I’ll trust you to take care of what he wants. You have the company card. Once you’re back, I’m convening a emergency Shadow Operatives meeting on this matter. It will be urgent, and thankfully, everyone should be able to make it due to all Shadow Ops being in Japan right now.

* * *

After Aigis returned, Mitsuru convened a Shadow Operatives meeting. It took a couple of days, and unfortunately, Yukari wasn’t unable to make it due to a film shooting, but Fuuka Yamagishi had promised she’d fill in Yukari later.

Mitsuru calls the meeting into order. “As you know, the government of Tokyo has implemented new laws and internal directives that have recently placed the Shadow Operatives into a kind of bureaucratic peril and standstill. Additionally, on top of that, one of the Kirijo Foundation’s scientists has died in their sleep.”

Fuuka puts her hand up. “Died in his sleep? But then why mention that? It's not related.”

Mitsuru held up her hand. “The thing is, the coroner examined his body and found no signs of disease nor did he ever indicate he had any family history of any genetical disease. Additionally, given his work, he didn’t contract anything through his personal life, or else the autopsy would have found it. His eyes on the other hand had signs of bursting with blood.”

Akihiko slams the table. “Does that mean…?”   
  


Mitsuru nods. “I’m afraid it is something related to our work. Something similar has been happening in Tokyo recently that I find the two occurrences almost too coincidental to not ignore. I sent clandestine Shadow Operatives to investigate, but they returned with no new findings beyond what we know. I almost thought we hit a dead end until I made the decision to find Sho Minazuki given his Persona's abilities.”

Mitsuru continues. “I sent Aigis to look for him. After a month of turning the country upside down, she found him in Osaka employed to a Yakuza group there, and he had information for us.”

Akihiko stands up. “Who!?”

Mitsuru continues. “Apparently, Masayoshi Shido had visited Sho’s Yakuza boss with talk of the mental shutdowns and offering to make a deal. Given his position in the current government, it is safe to say that he is a suspect in helping to arrange the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns. However, the murder of one of our researchers along with the Diet’s recent laws and internal briefings restricting us leads me to believe that he knows of the Shadow Operatives and views us as a threat; however, he thinks that if he was to try dealing with us through the use of assassination, we would foil his plans. He thus intends to leave us alone, all while consolidating his power in the government, and preventing us from acting with Public Safety’s permission.”

Akihiko snarls, “Bullshit! I’m gonna find him and wring the life out of him.”

Aigis interjects. “Akihiko-san, wait! There’s more. We have reason to believe that Shido is not the assassin himself, but merely that he is aware of the nature of Personas and is most likely a patron, given the fact that these mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns could have only been done by someone who wields a Persona.”

Fuuka tries to calm down Akihiko. “I think everyone here is in agreement that Shido is not going to get away with it. The reason why Aigis spoke up right now is that if you try to approach him right now, you’ll end up dead or maimed. Plus, we currently don’t know who the Persona user is, so you might spook him if you try to confront him directly.”

Akihiko, after some prodding from Fuuka, sits down. “That being said, I don’t intend on letting him get away with this.”

Mitsuru smiles. “I know. I must remind you, Akihiko, that he knows all the members of the Shadow operatives, official or non-official, but he doesn’t know who we’ve partnered up with in the past.”

Akihiko’s jaw slacks. “You mean to ask them?”

Labrys spoke up then. “It would be the perfect solution. The Investigation Team, Yu-kun, Yosuke-kun, and the others aren’t associated with us, and I happen to know two particular members who need a boost that Mitsuru can provide.”

Mitsuru affirms with a clearing of her throat. “To be more specific, we intend to request Yu and Naoto for aid with helping us on this matter. Their task in exchange for me helping them with their own matter is to investigate Masayoshi Shido and the string of these bizarre mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown cases. Along the way, we hope they can narrow down who the culprit of these cases are, the true assassin Shido has in his pockets. Once they confirm his identity, we’ll be moving in to apprehend him, or so I’d like to say.”

Mitsuru leans over. “Once they have managed to determine the identity of his assassin, we intend to sever Shido’s control over him. If we must neutralize this person, it will be done so even if my primary goal is not to kill him; it is to sever the roots of any conspiracy and to loosen our mobilization restrictions, of which Shido is sure to have been one of the loudest voices advocating for. By dealing with him, we are sure to regain some form of mobility and authoritative action.

Mitsuru then stands up to maximize her authoritative presentation. “This is our plan. Shadow Operatives, our objective is to investigate and deal with Shido, in addition to the investigation of the psychotic breakdown and mental shutdown incidents. Our primary goal is to apprehend the culprit. Failure is not an option; the continued existence of the Shadow Operatives depends on it!

* * *

12/09/15

* * *

Yu and Naoto were surprised at the terms. Mitsuru hadn’t explicitly asked them to get hands-on with what they found out; she promised that once they reported concrete findings about who the culprit, most definitely a Persona user, is, that the Shadow Operatives will be stepping in to take over. They wouldn’t have to get their hands dirty at all; it was a good thing since they were short on manpower in general. Rise was off promoting her new album, Sapphire; Yukiko took over the Amagi Ann officially; Chie was an officer in Inaba; Yosuke got a business degree and got promoted to work for the board of Junes; Teddie was busy looking after the TV world himself. Yu and Naoto didn’t have enough manpower to act on any evidence even if they wanted to.

They agreed to the terms readily. In their eyes, they got the better end of the deal; they managed to salvage their agency, they found more work than they could handle in Tokyo, and all they had to do was investigate these mysterious incidents and determine who the culprit was. At first, they questioned why Mitsuru and the Shadow Operatives couldn’t find evidence themselves considering their vast amount of resources. Mitsuru did say they suspected that Masayoshi Shido possibly had a hand in arranging these incidents, but that the intel came from Sho, who was now in the Yakuza. Therefore, they didn’t have concrete evidence to confirm everything, only speculations.

Naoto had speculated that because they were a well-known private security outfit dedicated to combating Persona-related matters, that the perpetrator had friends in the high reaches of government that could cover for them.

They soon found out just how difficult their task really was. As detective liaisons with Tokyo police, the both of them were able to investigate these crime scenes and sit in on interrogations with these victims and supposed culprits.

The startling thing was that these people had no prior record; in other words, they were completely innocent people before some psychotic breakdown victims became, well, psychotic. Likewise, they found no clear links with the victims of mental shutdown incidents.

They reported to Mitsuru by the 3rd week they moved into their new leased office. They only confirmed what Mitsuru knew; Mitsuru spared no time in saying that she isn’t surprised about what they had gathered so far. Even with Naoto’s detective prowess, the perpetrator was covering his tracks too well and Shido was most certainly involved in helping to cover their tracks. Given Shido’s position, he had meticulously weaved a web of alibis and cover-ups.

Mitsuru asked them to keep investigating, and that she’ll keep upholding her end of the deal. It didn’t hurt that the office they were leasing happened to be owned by the public sector of the Kirijo Corporation, under a shell company.

3 months in, they had gotten no closer to narrowing down the culprit, but one day, they walked into their office to find a small sealed envelope on Naoto’s desk.

They approached it, wary. Naoto opened the envelope and read the letter contained within.

  
  


_ Dear Ms. Shirogane, _

_ I hope this letter finds you well. I have evidence that can help you in investigating the Mental Shutdown and Psychotic Breakdown incidents. I happened across it from a flash drive mailed to me by an anonymous person. _

_ When I opened the contents of the flash drive, it contained definitive, new evidence tying Masayoshi Shido to these incidents. Additionally, it also confirmed that Masayoshi Shido is tied with other people in helping to arrange certain incidents in exchange for political favors. _

_ Now, you may be wondering why I haven’t included the flash drive in this letter. It turned out that flash drive had a virus on board; it wiped all the contents within but not before I managed to save copies of the evidence on an encrypted hard drive and detached it. I suspect that the virus was a precaution to ensure the evidence didn’t fall into the wrong hands as it probably was remotely set off. _

_ It’s too risky to meet with you and your associate out in the open without taking precautions. Despite this knowledge, I have to if I want to stay true to my beliefs of justice, and honestly, the amount of frivolity and corruption I gleaned from these files is shocking. _

_ I’m asking you to meet me in a quiet restaurant in Roppongi, the Skyscraper Highlight, roughly a week from now, March 10th, at 9 PM sharp. I’ll have the hard drive in tow; I need to be hidden away if I’m to expose these people. They would most definitely go after me and anyone I know if I’m to do this.  _

_ I hope that you can arrange for friends to help me hide from these people. I have quite the damning evidence that could cause scandals in all reaches of government and society. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ A Law-Abiding Citizen and Government Employee _

Naoto and Yu then quickly contacted Mitsuru to inform her of this development; she promised that she’ll send Shadow Operatives helmed by Labrys to ensure this man’s safety.

  
  


* * *

3/10/16 - Night - Skyscraper Highlight

* * *

The fated day arrived. Naoto and Yu quickly got ready for a night out at Skyscraper Highlight; their cover was that they’re a couple dressed out for a night at the town.

They got there a bit later, at 8 PM, so as to mingle with the other customers and not appear suspicious.

They took a seat at a table overlooking the skyscrapers of Roppongi. They ordered food and drinks and waited; Mitsuru had personally shipped them a Platinum company credit card so they didn’t have to exhaust their own coffers while undercover for this meet-up.

Yu took a sip of his cocktail, just a sip though. He remembered the time the Investigation Team and Naoto were at Club Escapade; Yu, Rise, Teddie, and Yukiko had gotten drunk off the atmosphere itself and not the drinks, but it was a fun memory.

He wanted to blend in but also to make sure he didn’t get too logically incapacitated by drinking. He looks over at Naoto.

She had opted for a non-alcoholic cocktail; given her height and her mass, she’d probably be completely buzzed after a single drink and she needed to be completely alert and focused for this mission.

Yu leans over and whispers, “It’s almost about time; you think the person’’ll show up?”

Naoto whispers back, “I hope so. This person seems like someone who has a sense of justice, even if they’re afraid of retaliation.”

Yu then leans back upright. “How’s the quail?”

Naoto grimaces. “Skewered. How’s your Wagyu?”

Yu smiles. “Tender.”

Just then their watches hit 9 PM on the dot. Yu and Naoto observed the patrons and the entrance; he might have come in early just like them or not. 

Unfortunately, nobody stood out to them.

They decided to wait a hour longer to see if they missed anyone or if he’ll approach them. They also checked for single patrons; however, nobody had approached them or even recognized Naoto, even if she was decked out in formal clothing.

Disappointed, they left the restaurant and headed back to their own respective lodgings. Yu was driving. “You think that was a test? Or some sort of trap?”

Naoto put a hand to her chin. “We may never know. It could be that he got spooked or he couldn’t make it. Maybe he even got cold feet. I mean, we’re talking about a possible conspiracy here that threatens to kill people who expose them.”

Naoto interfaces a call with Labrys on the car intercom system. “Sorry, he didn’t show.”

Labrys on the ends audibly sighs. “I can’t blame him, considering he’s probably someone who values his own life or probably even has a family. I’ll report to Mitsuru-chan about this; I can guarantee she won’t be happy about this, but it’s not your fault the person didn’t show up.”

Yu smiles. “Thanks, Labrys. Tell me we’re going to keep investigating. Hopefully, we’ll get a break in the case at some point.”

Labrys affirms. “Ten-Four, Yu. I’m out.” She hung up.

Naoto sighs. “A dead-end lead; we’re back to square one. We’re no closer to finding who the culprit is nor any evidence as to how Masayoshi Shido is connected to all of this nor how far this conspiracy extends.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


4/17/16

Kobayakawa’s office 

Sometime Earlier

* * *

  
  


Kamoshida slams his hands on the table. “Principal, what is the meaning of this? Restrain Sakamoto on a leash. He's too nosy and confrontational with me. If this keeps up, my position at the school will be in jeopardy!”

Kobayakawa puts his hands up. “Now, Kobayakawa-san, even I didn’t know about this. He’s been doing this of his own accord. That said, I do understand your frustrations. Shujin has only benefited from your presence coaching the volleyball team; we're as invested as you are in keeping this arrangement.”

Kamoshida growls. “I can’t believe he would accuse me, ME, of sexual assault. All he has is a recording; A RECORDING! How is that proof?”

Kobayakawa extends his hands. “Don’t worry, Kamoshida-san. I’ve already called for a board meeting with the entire board. I plan to bring up the motion to transfer Sakamoto-kun and Mishima-kun to different schools. I have contacts with other high schools in Tokyo so they’ll be more than happy to receive them with the transfers. As for convincing their parents, my contacts have drafted up scholarships for the two of them, scholarships that will more than guarantee their stay at these schools, with privileges and perks no less. Those two would be fools to pass up such opportunities.”

Kamoshida narrows his eyes. “About that girl who Sakamoto has as his secretary… is she really part of the Student Council?”

Kobayakawa shook his head. “Aside from Sakamoto being miss Amamiya's student guide, I don't believe so.” His eyes narrowed. “Have you done anything to her? Her parents quite frankly warned me that no harm should come to her, and I intend to adhere to that warning even if it means firing you if she so happens to catch your fancy.”

Kamoshida scoffs and snarls. “No! Besides, Mishima interrupted me, the pest. Anyway, Sakamoto must have been corrupting her mind with lies, LIES! About me! He needs to go; why did Niijima-san have to take a leave of absence; I swear I haven’t felt this on edge while Niijima was still head of the Student Council!” He looks at Kobayakawa. “You can tell me why, haven’t you?”

Kobayakawa shrugs. “Family matters. I heard that her father died, but to imagine that she would become truant because of her grief even for an entire month…” 

Kamoshida then smiles. “I see that you’re invested in this as much as I am. I’m grateful for you taking this seriously, Principal.”

Kobayakawa nods. “You’re our star coach. With your coaching, the Shujin volleyball team will take the gold and Nationals. We can’t afford to lose you. With that in mind, it stands to reason that I’m invested in making sure you stay.”

Kamoshida then bows. “Well then, I’ll take my leave then.” He turns around and leave.

Kobayakawa makes sure Kamoshida really left, before dialing a number on his phone. “Sir, thank you for everything.”

The voice responds. “To think you would seek our assistance over something so minor… I do hope the favor you asked of us is worth all this trouble.”

Kobayakawa vigorously shakes his head. “Of course it is, Sir! As principal of Shujin, it’s my duty to ensure that Shujin attains glory with any method possible!”

The voice chuckles. “Well then, it should be a piece of cake. How’s that other matter going?”

Kobayakawa raises his eyebrow. “It’s going amazingly, sir. But why do you ask?”

The voice then turns hollow. “Remind me what your rank is compared to me. If you screw up in this… well, we’ll be sure to exact a fitting punishment for you.”

Kobayakawa pales. “Y-Y-Yes, sir, you can count on me to do this without any problems.”

The other line clicks as the other person on the line hangs up. Kobayakawa puts down the phone as he sweats. If he screws up in doing what they asked him to, he’s as good as dead. Even with his tenure in the organization, he was still relatively middling in authority and rank.

  
Kobayakawa clasps his head.  _ Why did I have to be so greedy when accepting that task!? I could have declined and saved my own skin. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all criticisms, comments, predictions, please comment down below.
> 
> This is a work of fiction. Additionally, all chapters published may have odd errors spread throughout the entire word count. Please inform me of any you see, and I will be sure to rectify it as soon as possible.
> 
> Additionally, I did not tag Persona 3 characters because they do not play a major role in this fic. As for Yu, I have imagined him to take a kind of a back seat to Naoto, who will command the most fic-time outside the main cast of Persona 5 characters.


	10. The Fork of Obstacles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki approaches Mona about doing some scouting of the Palace to prepare for further infiltration after where they left off. Of course, Mona has his suspicions as to why Yuki requests this of him.
> 
> Once inside the Palace, they retrace their steps to the dining hall where they got ambushed their last time inside, only to find that they haven't set off any traps nor any changes spotted. They head out, but not before discovering a new development that may impact further infiltration going forward and their plans concerning Shadow Kamoshida.
> 
> Yuki calls a meeting to discuss these new developments, only to be faced with a dilemma. At that point, Yuki also has to contend with an eavesdropper, who may have their own motives and may very well jeopardize their plans, even if Ryuji has the authority and clout to invent misdirections as excuses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait. I was stuck in a rut wondering how things were going to move forward. I kept thinking and rethinking the plot scenario for this particular chapter, and so I decided to add one thing I previously hadn't thought of ever adding to the story. Of course, this means that the story going forward will be modified somewhat.

4/19/16

* * *

Yuki had opted to postpone further infiltration into Kamoshida’s Palace. Too many things were happening that went outside of her prior knowledge infiltrating the Palace, once upon a time, in a different timeline. She couldn’t trust herself to not lead them to an unsuspecting trap as she once did. 

She asked Mona to help her scope out the Palace in the last two days, given her unsettled anxiety. Of course, Mona had to ask the obvious. 

She could still remember what occurred on the 17th.

She had walked up to Mona, who was surrounded by a flock of girls, to ask if he had time to humor her request.

The flock of girls instantly recognized who she was: the new transfer student that had the looks and that rumors were saying that she was pining after Sakamoto or vice versa. Of course, she gave them a hard look when they said that, but it was Mona who diffused the situation. “She’s a friend of mine, okay? She probably wanted to ask me something, right?” He looked at her askew with a glance that read, “Say something.”

Yuki nervously laughs. “Yeah, we’re friends. I just wanted to ask him to do me a favor, alright.”

The gaggle of girls reluctantly left, griping about how she had to ruin their day.

Yuki looks at Mona. “I see someone evidently enjoys their new life and their identity, huh?”

Mona pulls out his phone and opens the camera, admiring his visage. “Well… I made sure to ask Master Igor to give me a human body so as to blend in with you guys, right. I won’t let this gift be wasted, though.”

Yuki rolls her eyes. “Oh, to think you would have restraint, I was so remarkably wrong. In the previous timeline, you were lusting over Ann Takamaki, and here you’re a playboy.”

Mona smiles. “I know you didn’t come here to gripe at me for wasting my time with the ladies. What’s this favor you want?”

Yuki nervously looks around. “Not here. Can we go somewhere quieter?”

Mona points up. “The rooftop good for you? Where’s Ann and Ryuji? Is it about - ?”

Yuki grabs his hand. “I’ll tell you once we get up there.”

Mona relents. She drags him up to the rooftop. When she lets go of his hand, he rubs it. “You know, that kinda hurts.”

Yuki sighs. “Sorry… anyway, I was hoping if you and I can scope out the Palace, at least all the way until where we left?”

Mona nods. “Sure. What about Ann and Ryuji though?”

Yuki looks away, grimacing. “Actually, it’d just be the two of us. I’ll be shifting us in now. Prepare.”

She spoke the keywords. In moments, they were once again looking at the horrible spectacle that is Kamoshida’s castle.”

Before she could get going, Mona stopped her. “What’s all this about?”

Yuki pulls him to the side of the wall. “Shhh! Not so loud!” She looks around, checking for any guards. When she verifies nobody heard them, she looks at the Velvet Room door in the distance. “Has Lavenza and Igor filled you in on me?”

Mona raised an eyebrow. “That you were a guy in a previous life - wait, you want me to help you adjust to being a girl!?” He looks at himself. “Listen, I know I became a human and all, but even I can’t help -”

Yuki smacks her head. “No, not that!” She rolls her eyes. “Didn’t Lavenza and Igor tell you more about my past?”

Mona slightly tilts your head. “You were a Phantom Thief even back then and you used to infiltrate the Metaverse, even the same Palaces. And I… well, that version of me, was a cat.” He contemplates. “That version of me must have really hated being one. I can see why; being a human is deeply satisfying, even if going to school is such a bore. Master Igor already gave me the knowledge for theoretical applications.”

Yuki laughs. “If that isn't the truth right there... even so, you certainly need to learn how to live in society. Anyway, what you said about me was right. We, including people you have already met and people we have yet to run into, used our powers to reform society. At least, the previous me, Ryuji, Ann, and you were the founding members of what was to be known as the Phantom Thieves. How we did so was to target people using the cognitive underlayer known as the Metaverse, infiltrating Mementos for members of the public, and Palaces for those with a strong, distorted desire.”

Mona nods. “I heard about that. What’s the real problem?”

Yuki sighs. “I’ve infiltrated this palace before in that world or timeline, any way you’d like to call it. After what happened yesterday, I’ve come to realize that I shouldn’t trust my own memories of how the infiltration went.”

Mona is unsurprised. “I see. Lavenza already informed me that you were no stranger to the Metaverse or to infiltrations, but why? Are you apologetic for what happened-” His face fell flat. “Oh. I understand now. You were using your past experience in this Palace as a kind of guide. And when that ambush happened, you panicked because it didn’t happen as you expected it would.”

Yuki nods. “Yeah. Even I knew that my past experience infiltrating Kamoshida’s Palace wasn’t to be completely relied on, but I unwittingly led all of us right into a trap. If it wasn’t for Ryuji and Ann awakening and realizing their potential, we would have perished then and there at the spot. I know that we have had dumb luck in the prior timeline, but this time I didn’t want to rely on dumb luck to save our asses in the heat of the moment. I want to use my experience so we don’t have to rely on something so unreliable when it comes down to it.”

Mona grasps her shoulders. “A true leader should know that you can’t control what happens, only how you react. So what if that ambush had happened? You kept it cool and calm, and we managed to make our comeback and escape.”

Yuki exclaims, “Even still, I don’t feel completely confident. I can’t trust that anything else I have seen remains the same. That’s why I’d ask you today. I was hoping that we could make sure that Kamoshida doesn’t seem to have anything up his sleeve.”

Mona releases his grip. “Understood. We’ll only go as far as we got in there, and then we’re turning back. I don’t dare to go any farther without Ryuji and Ann to give us additional firepower.”

Yuki nods. They entered the castle, retracing their steps to the last safe room they had managed to reach. They looked out the safe room. It was quiet, with guards evenly spread out. Even though they were lacking in manpower, they managed to deal with any guards they came across without too much difficulty. Kamoshida must not be taking any chances, it seems. They had come across fewer guards than they initially encountered the first time. He must have concentrated the bulk of his guards beyond the point they last reached. They entered the dining hall, which was quiet save for a few guards walking around, patrolling.

Even with the two of them, they had managed to beat all of them down, preventing them from raising the alarm. They looked around before taking a rest in there.

Mona mutters, “Nothing out of the ordinary. It seems Kamoshida is too wary of us. After all, we showed him how strong we really are. He must be saving his strength for us right near the treasure room.”

Yuki looks down. “That was anticlimactic. Here I thought that there could be something else I would not have accounted for, but there’s nothing.”

Mona sighs. “Anyway, given we haven’t found anything concerning yet, we should get back. It must be getting late for us.”

Yuki only puts her hand to her face. “Please don’t remind me. I think Ushimaru assigned us the equivalence of a textbook to read, although I could be exaggerating. I still don’t think I’m wrong though. Even if I studied all of this stuff once upon a time… remembering everything’s going to be a big hassle, and so is reading all his assignments.”

They get up. Suddenly, a noise fills the air.    
  


Yuki looks at Mona. “You hear that?”

Mona nods. “I thought I was going crazy. What’s happening?”

Yuki and Mona both rushed to the window, and what they saw terrified them. 

A drake, no, dragon, swoops out of the sky and onto a dragon-sized perch elevated higher in the castle, in the direction they were going to infiltrate further.    
  


Mona nervously asks Yuki, “Your past experience in here, you ever run into a dragon?”

Yuki shakes her head, all too aware of how much this was going to be a pain. “N-No, I don’t think so. Well… that makes things more complicated. The dragon must be guarding the treasure. It has to be. There’s no way it’s guarding any other place.”

Mona gestures. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll have to think of a way to subdue that dragon if we come across it before we come back in here.”

All the both of them could think about on the way back was, “Well, everything just got more difficult. There’s a dragon we now have to contend with.”

  
  


* * *

The next day, 4/18   
  
  


* * *

Yuki had called a meeting up on the rooftop to discuss infiltration.

Ryuji was the first to arrive, mumbling about how he had to leave the Student Council duties in the hands of Ito and Mari. Of course, he tried to worm out of his duties, but the both of them had pestered him so much that he eventually had to say he needed a break from all of his duties. Additionally, he had to question Ito and Mari’s presence in the Student Council as of recently, saying that only Ito was taking his duties seriously. 

Mona had arrived next; he had to lose the gaggle of girls that flocked around him by going to the bathroom. Of course, he really did need to use the bathroom, but he prolonged his stay to the point where they grew tired of him and left.

Ann was the last to arrive; she evidently had to skip school today because the police had asked her cooperation in the matter. In fact, all of them had been called to testify; Ann had wondered if it was Ms. Shirogane’s doing, since she was assigned to Shiho’s case.

Yuki hadn’t had the most pleasant dreams last night. She found herself back in the Velvet Room last night, with Lavenza and Felix prattling on and on about the outside world. Yuki found herself losing her mind over the constant gushing, with the end result being that they’d ask Yuki to take them out to enjoy life outside the Velvet Room. Igor at the end only seemed to smile at Yuki as if he knew how seriously obstentious they were when she wasn’t around; that being said, he didn’t do anything to relieve Yuki of the background chatter.  _ Poor Igor; I always knew the Velvet Room attendants were a bit eccentric, but to imagine that Igor has to deal with that… 24/7, no wait, hang on, does time exist within the Velvet Room? That being said, he could have said something to get them to shut up. I practically had to offer to take them out soon to enjoy Tokyo. _

Ryuji interrupted her thoughts. “So... we infiltrating or what?”

Yuki clears her mind of this.  _ I’ll deal with Lavenza and Felix later.  _ She clears her throat. “That’s right, but before that… Mona and I have something to share. Yesterday, we actually went back into the palace to scout, considering the fact that we got ambushed by that surprise attack the last time we’ve been there. We wanted to ensure that Kamoshida didn’t have anything up his sleeve when we resume infiltration.”

Ann crossed her arms. “I thought we agreed that all of us were to have a voice in infiltration.”

Ryuji held up his hand. “I agree with Ann, but I can see why you thought you should have done it. That being said, you should have told us. That Palace… is dangerous. I think last time we already proved that.”

Mona stepped up. “Well, we only retraced our steps to the dining hall. We only came across the usual amount of guards in there, but somehow when we were about to leave… something happened.”

Ann walks to the edge of the roof and stares through the fencing constructed hastily after Shiho’s suicide attempt. “What is it?”

Yuki looks at her. “It turns out we won’t be contending with Kamoshida alone. We’ll also have to deal with his pet dragon as well.”

Ann gasps. “A dragon!? You’re telling me that bastard in that other world has a dragon!?”

Mona affirms. “It’s true. Judging by the path it flew out of our sight, it’ll most likely be guarding the treasure room or the throne room. Either way, dealing with a dragon on top of dealing with Kamoshida just got more complicated. Of course, we’ll want to postpone that eventuality until we’re nice and ready to do so.”

Ryuji nervously asks, “Is there even a weakness that dragons have? In Pokémon Dragon-Type Pokemon are weak to Ice and their own kind, but I’m not keen to rely on a video game to combat a dragon.”

Mona speculates, “Well, dragons are large and have terrible destructive power, but their size also means they’re slower to move, and their appetite holds no bounds. Perhaps… just perhaps… we can find a way to deal with the dragon without outright fighting it. As it stands, even with all four of us, it’d be a difficult fight, one I’m not even entirely sure we can win with the thought of having to face Kamoshida after.”

A voice rings out, “What are you guys doing? So… my hunch was right… you guys really are plotting something to do about Kamoshida!”

All four of them flipped around to see Mishima Yuuki lying against the doorway.

Ryuji sputters, “Mishima!? You heard all of that!?”

Ann slaps his head. “Never mind that! How long did you suspect we were doing this?”

Mishima shrugs. “To be truthful, I’ve always known about Sakamoto’s innate hatred of Kamoshida, but it has been so long since he got recruited to Student Council that even I had loosened my expectations somewhat. It was only after Shiho that I began to suspect something was up. I saw you guys meeting up in the alleyway a couple of days back, and today saw you guys heading up to the rooftop. It was relatively easy to assume you guys were up to something.”

Mishima gestured to Yuki. “I see that Sakamoto roped you into this whole ordeal.”

Yuki shook his head. “More like I agreed to it. You saw how Kamoshida reacted around me; when I intervened with Shiho, I really thought it was the last straw.”

Mishima’s mood darkens. “Yeah, I was there. I always knew Kamoshida was abusing his privileges as a teacher and coach within the school, but I didn’t have enough evidence to say so until I recorded him and then… that happened.” He looks at his hands. “If I had just rushed off to find Sakamoto that day I recorded it…”

Ryuji walks over and puts his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself over it, Mishima. The fact that you came by after you recorded it is proof enough you cared. Anyway, it’s in the past; what matters is what we do now.”

Mishima nods. “I heard the police and especially the previous Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane, is launching an investigation into Kamoshida. However, I just overheard Kobayakawa on his phone walking past saying that the police wouldn’t get far with their investigation. He sounded optimistic.”

Ryuji’s look hardens as he turns around, musing. “Principal Kobayakawa… I always wondered if he knew, or if he was even complicit in everything that was happening. I guess that means that he at the very least knew of it, and looked past the other way.”

Ann gasps at the information. “Are all the staff in on it too!?”

Yuki paces around. “I don’t think every teacher knows about it, at least not all of them. Even still, it would be wise to only assume for now that Principal Kobayakawa is at least aware of Kamoshida’s transgressions and chooses to let it slide, considering Kamoshida’s volleyball merit and accomplishments.”

She glances over at Mishima. He was understandably a little jittery; after all, he had been mired in the most unforeseen intelligence gathering that had led to their current situation, a situation not far from one she had experienced similarly once upon a time. “So, what do you plan on doing with this information? You came to Ryuji to give him that recording, and you helped me get away from Kamoshida, so I don’t believe you’ll do anything horrible with the information.”

Mishima bowed. Everyone was so startled that Ann and Ryuji were floundering in getting him to get back up. “As a friend of Suzui, I ask you to help Shujin Academy. I would wish you the best myself, but I’ll do so on the behalf of everyone else.” Mishima then gets back to his original position, panning his gaze around. “Finally… I want to join the Phantom Thieves. I want to do something about Kamoshida, but as a student, the adults would laugh at me. I know Miss Shirogane is on our side and I feel that she’s a good person, but even so…” His fist clenches and tightens. “Even so, I want to do something myself. I can’t stand around and witness Kamoshida further abuse more students after Suzui, and if I have to do something outside the boundaries of the law to put a stop to him, then I don’t care.”

Yuki looks around. “Well, lucky for you, we’re about to do something that the law can’t reasonably comprehend. And… it might solve our manpower issue with that problem we have, assuming he has the potential. Of course, it’ll be a unanimous vote. I vote yes.”

Ryuji steps forward. “I can vouch for Mishima. He’s a good person at heart, and if he really means what he says, then we should let him in on our little special ops.”

Ann is reluctant. “Mishima… just what is your relation to Shiho? You said you’re a friend, but…”

Mishima shakes his head. “It’s not like that, Takamaki. I don’t have feelings for Suzui; on the other hand, I can’t stand by and watch someone like her decide that she should end her life without trying to find out why. Since I know why, however, I want to make sure she doesn’t have to feel that way, and the only way she can feel better is to do something about Kamoshida, on my own terms.”

Ann is pained. “I see… so you’re the same as me.” Ann looks at the rest of them. “I’ll be taking Mishima at his words. I say yes as well.”

Yuki looks at Mona; he’s the last person to vote. “What about you, Mona?”

Mona sighs. “It’s complicated. Because we’re already deep into infiltration, he’s going to be a liability for us considering what happened.” Yuki nodded, remembering how protecting Ann and Ryuji had severely hampered their ability to go all-out and led them into an ambush. They had purely relied on dumb luck to survive. “On the other hand, with that new problem we discovered, we need all the manpower we can get. It’s a risky bet, but then again, when has this not ever been risky?”

Yuki laughs. “True.”

Mishima scratches his head. “Um… I’m lost here. Infiltration? Manpower? Risky? Just what is this plan of yours?”

Mona waves it aside. “Anyways, I’ll say yes. I want to see if he has the potential.”

Yuki grins. “It’s official; we all agree. Welcome to the team, Mishima. You’re one of us now.”

Mishima smiles and pumps his fist in the air. “Alright! Yes! Now, about those questions… I need answers.”

Yuki laughs, her first laugh filled with only positivity. “You can see for yourself; it’s going to all make sense once we show you and then fill you in."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Mishima. Initial plans never called for him to be a Phantom Thief, but I thought about it again and again. You know, alternate world bullshit, whoever said he couldn't be one. Power of fanfiction right here. That being said, his current temperament right now is essentially a foil of the Original Timeline's Mishima (Royal's too, considering it's a copy-paste). Despite all this, he will still be the Moon Arcana, with more tailor-fit experiences and problems to fit his current personality.
> 
> Costume reveals for Ryuji and Ann will be in the next chapter; expect some modifications and certainly new codenames. Mishima will also get his Persona next chapter, but I'm currently debating on what his Persona will be inspired from.


	11. Assault on the Castle of Sexual Depravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki and the gang allow Mishima to accompany them on their infiltration mission. Things go as planned until they head to the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while. I've been hard at work determining how to proceed forward. Eventually, I want to resolve the whole 'Where is Makoto Niijima?' ordeal and I've been having trouble coming up with a new scenario. Earlier I thought of a scenario played out later on in the story that I realized wasn't entirely to my liking.
> 
> Even before that, I wrote myself into a corner with Kamoshida's whole Palace and the whole irregularity of it, and Naoto's whole involvement with the Kamoshida judicial case. That'll be coming up in the next chapter. Essentially, Kobayakawa has called in some favors to ensure that Naoto's whole case is dead in the water when it goes to a judge, which we previously learned about.
> 
> The Royal exclusive characters, namely Kasumi, haven't had much time in this fic. Of course, as time goes on and Sumire begins to show signs of regaining consciousness, she'll appear more frequently. As for Maruki... he's going to be here, by roughly the same time frame as Royal. Reasons for taking the job may be different though.

4/19/16

  
  
  


Bringing Mishima when they were already so far in with infiltration was going to be a risky bet, but they needed all the manpower they can get. Now that they had a dragon to contend with along with Kamoshida, it seems taking even further risks would be the only way they could achieve their goal of making Kamoshida pay for what he has done.

They immediately shifted to Kamoshida’s Palace as soon as they welcomed Mishima into the fold. 

Suffice it to say, Mishima was flabbergasted at what he saw. The medieval castle, the drawbridge…

Mishima sputters, “J-J-Just what the hell is this!? First, we were on the roof, and now we’re in front of a castle. Amamiya-kun, explain to me what all of this is!”

Yuki sighs. “Nicknames, please, Mishima. I’ll cut you some slack though since it’s your first time here; essentially, we use nicknames in this place to avoid getting recognized in this place. The castle is full of guards, and Kamoshida pretty much knows our faces, so to avoid that, we assign nicknames to people who have awakened the potential. Speaking of which, I’m Adler and he’s Blackjack,” nodding to Mona. As to the two of them,...”

Yuki and Mona were sort of in a rush to escape the castle the last time around that they didn’t have time to come up with new nicknames or to admire their costumes. They had immediately headed home, Yuki and Mona too tired from fighting to even have a short debriefing session.

Yuki looks at Ryuji’s costume. The fencer-mask-visor mask of rebellion appeared on his face, thankfully not obscuring his vision by using marked slits for eyeholes. It was the rest of his costume that got a whistle out of Yuki. As much as she liked Ryuji’s Skull costume, this was infinitely cooler and even stylish. He wore a thin plate of armor over a white shirt, with bracers and metallic shoulder pads tinted blackish-gray. He adorned black trousers, a belt, and wore slightly plated leather boots. At his belt, a greatsword hung at his right hip.

Yuki looks at Mona and the rest. “Any ideas?”

Mona shrugs. “Something literal? Like Knight?”

Ryuji sighs. “Seriously? I expected something cooler. Let me pick… hmm... what about Yoshitsune?”

Yuki raised an eyebrow. “You’d name yourself after a Japanese swordsman, a famous one at that? What if you don’t live up to the legend? Additionally, didn’t Yoshitsune only use a dual katana and wakizashi sword?”

Yuki ponders. Suddenly something came to her. “Kingsglaive.”

Ryuji protested. “I don’t wield a glaive and what king!? I do have to admit… it’s a cool codename. You’ve been playing too much Final Fantasy. 15, was it?” Ryuji sighs. “I think that my codename will be… Siegfried.”

Yuki nods. “Also doable. I do hope we don’t find out there’s a Persona named Siegfried considering all the Shadows here are mythologically and historically based.”

She then takes a look at Ann’s costume. Her previous costume as Panther was one that reminded her of full-skin latex. Here, it seems that she got a significantly less revealing costume. Her costume was designed to be still feminine but not exposing, with a black camisole tucked beneath a green lace blouse. For pants, she wore leather tights intermixed with knee-high boots. It seems her idea of rebellion this time around is more of a woman’s maturity and elegance rather than sexual. She, as before, utilized a whip, but one shorter, and with barbs at the very end. She also had an Uzi at her side.

Yuki asks, “Isn’t your Persona Morgaine? As in Morgan Le Fay?”

Ann nods. “Yeah.”

Mona adds. “Morgaine is just one of many ways to refer to the enchantress in Arthurian legend, one of equal renown as the Lady of the Lake who is also in the same mythos. Your nickname; I know. Le Fey; it might be literal, but I have a sense you’re one for having a very elegant nickname.”

Ann nods. “I like that. So elegant and French-sounding!”

Yuki sighs, continuing with her explanation. “Anyways, back to the explanation. Long story short, this is how Kamoshida views the castle. We’ve been busting our asses trying to reach the innermost sanctum of his castle to steal his treasure. Of course, we’ve recently run into a big issue. Blackjack, give him the detailed version.”

Mona obliges. “The castle is a distortion. It’s Kamoshida’s perceived reality of how he views the castle. It’s not real, but it does reflect his twisted heart. We are attempting to steal the treasure here. If we try to do so, then it will no doubt affect the real Kamoshida into atoning for his crimes.” He then crosses his arms. “We’ve only gone in once for real only to get ambushed, and then me and Adler here tried to scout the castle for any further traps. What we hoped was for no surprises to pop out of nowhere, but we soon found out Kamoshida had a dragon. A dragon we didn’t even know existed until Adler made the right choice to go back to scout the place further. With four people, we’d be hardpressed to contend with both a dragon and Shadow Kamoshida. However...” He looks at Mishima. “With five, we may just stand a chance at creating a diversion. What kind of diversion… I don’t know… but it’d be better than fighting that thing head-on. Of course… we’ll have to prepare for anything and everything. The Metaverse can throw curveballs at you, things you could never even suspect.”

Yuki claps her hands softly. “We killed a bit of time here. Mishima, stick close to us. If you wander off during our investigation of our place, we can’t guarantee your safety or even get you back intact. If all goes well… you may even awaken to your potential.”

Mishima whispers, “Potential. So you’re saying that I could be just like you guys?”

Yuki smiles. “You’ll understand soon what I mean. Now… let’s get a move on, guys. I want to reach the treasure room by the time we’re done for today.”

* * *

The castle didn’t seem relatively that different than when Yuki and Mona scouted out the dining hall.

In the first battle, Mishima had to stay close but not too close as Yuki and the gang tangled with some Kelpies.

After the battle, Yuki noticed Mishima has stars in his eyes, gushing about how cool they all were and how their Personas looked.

Yuki just simply gave him a look that said “And maybe we’ll get to see what your inner spirit of rebellion is.”

They reached the dining hall, and pushed onwards, opening the door. It seemed to be a flight of stairs circling around a tower, only dilapidated and a huge portion of the staircase caved in.

Yuki groans. “Well, that’s something. We can’t ascend the stairs and get further in.”

Mona chuckles. “Well, it looks like it’s my turn to shine!”

Yuki looks at him. “You know a way we can get up there?”

Mona rummaged in his bag. “A Thief must always be prepared. I’ve been tinkering with this for a while now. I honestly didn’t see any purpose to it until now. You see that hook up there? He gestures to a golden hook.”

Yuki squints to look at it. “Yeah?”

Mona finally pulls out a wound-up coil with a hook at the end. “With this grappling hook, you can latch onto it and soar up there! Attach it to your sleeve! It has a built-in winding mechanism.”  
  


Yuki is dubious about the whole thing, but given her expertise with Mona’s gadgets in the previous timeline, she reluctantly strapped it on.

Mona smiles. “Now try to aim for the hook.”

Yuki gave a twirl and aimed the grapple at the hook; the grapple latched onto the hook and rapidly lifted her. Mona just barely managed to grab on to her before she ascended.

Mishima seems fascinated. “I can’t believe you had the skill to pull that off.”

Yuki jumped down from a safe height. “The Metaverse enhances your physical conditions and your body strength, not to mention your agility. My parkour skills, for example, are enhanced here that I could easily pull them off here. In reality, I couldn’t dream of pulling off anything without a hitch.” Yuki jerked her head upwards. “I need you guys to get up there. I don’t know if I can carry all of you or if we’d have to do this one-by-one, but let’s try it out.”

Yuki again unwinds the grapple hook and aims for the indent. Ryuji, Ann, and Mishima grab on tight as Yuki ascends, though not as rapidly as the first time around with just Mona. 

Yuki gets up on top. She flexes her arm. “Mona, nice job with the grappling hook. It’ll seem as if it’ll hold up with a couple of people. Mind if you can make a couple more? I can’t imagine carrying everyone every time something like this happens.”

Mona nods. “It should be fairly simple enough. I’ll get cracking on it tonight. I should be able to make more over the next couple of days.”

Yuki remembers that this area reminds her of the library area in Kamoshida’s castle once upon a time. She walks down and immediately sees a guard standing firm at a locked door. _Similar here, though there might be something different._

Yuki motioned for the team to follow her into one of the rooms. In there, she activated her Third Eye, noticing a book. The King book. She smiled. _Something recognizable, although it stirs up bad memories._

Yuki traversed around the area, picking up the Queen book. She also noticed a book labeled The Beefcake, one she wasn’t aware of previously. She reluctantly picked it up and headed straight for the library, only pausing to clear the area of any remaining guards. 

Once inside the library, she notices the Slave book. However, everyone hears a voice.

The voice weakly spoke, “Help… Help me…”

Yuki stopped and held up a hand. “You hear that?” The funny thing too was that she swore she recognized the voice.

Ann mutters, “Yeah. It sounded like a student is trapped somewhere nearby.”

Yuki pales. _Could it be… No…_

She slowly, reluctantly, slots the books into their proper positions.

As she suspected, the library still contained a hidden room. However, when they looked inside, it was so much worse than that. It was a makeshift torture chamber. 

The voice they heard… was none other than a cognitive Mishima Yuuki, beaten and bruised up, hanging from chains in the ceiling.

Mishima was in shock. “That’s me. But I’m me.”

Mona nods. “He’s what we refer to as a cognition. Essentially, a byproduct of Kamoshida’s perception of people. I guess in his mind, he sees you as some sort of prisoner.”

The cognitive Mishima groans. “Help me… I was chained up here for trying to start a rebellion down in the dungeons with the others. He tortured me so… so… much…”

Mishima, just mind blown, steps forward. And then he heard a clunk. 

Yuki shouts, “Trap!”

The floor underneath Ann, Ryuji, Mona, Yuki, and Mishima gave way to a large trap door that slid wide open. As they fell, the only person Yuki was closest to was Mishima. Seeing no other way to get to the others in time before the trap door slid shut once again, she grabbed onto Mishima and unfurled her grappling hook, managing to sink it into a hook by the trapdoor. 

She ascended… ascended… ascended… it looked as if they weren’t going to make it.

By the skin of their teeth, they barely managed to squeeze through before it slid close. 

Mishima was in shock. 

He believed that he might have condemned Ryuji, Ann, and Mona, to a fate worse than death.

Yuki shook Mishima. “Mishima… Mishima... we had no idea that there was even one. Don’t worry… we’ll find a way to rescue them.”

Mishima despondently responded, “I did that. I activated a trap that made my friends disappear before my very eyes. I could have killed them.”

Yuki shook Mishima. “It wasn’t your fault. There’s still a chance we can save them!” Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Mishima took her words at value. He covered his face with his hands, shell-shocked.

Yuki looked up at the cognitive Mishima. “You must know where they went. If you hate Kamoshida as much as we do, please. Tell us.”

The cognitive Mishima groans. “They might have fallen into the dungeon. Unfortunately, I don’t know where the entrance might be; they had me blindfolded the entire time. Only the king and the guards know of the entrance. Anyway, I’ve… given up. There’s no way we can win against them.”

Guards rushed into the library and surrounded the two. “Intruders! You have dared to besmirch the name of our king and lord, King Kamoshida. Additionally, you have seen fit to defy and disparage his very name.”

Yuki got up and readied a battle stance. “Mishima, if people like you give up, it means Kamoshida wins. Don’t be like the cognitive figment of yourself. I know you’re stronger than this, better than this. If Kamoshida wins, he will get away with everything. Frankly, I intend not to let him escape what justice he deserves for everything.”

Mishima looks down. “I know that, and I hate him too, but the odds…”

Yuki shut him down as she grabbed his shirt. Mishima was terrified by her fury as she shouted, “I don’t frankly care about the odds, Mishima! He raped Shiho and she almost committed suicide if I hadn’t been there to stop her. I know I won’t forgive him. If you are going to be like this, it means you're letting him do whatever he wants. If you truly cared like when you tried to give Ryuji that recording, then please, do the right thing. Stand up and believe in yourself. Believe in us. We won’t go down that easily.” She let go of him as she drew her sword to ward off the guards, who were warily approaching them. "... Sorry."

Mishima looked down. “Shiho… everyone… they got hurt because of Kamoshida. It’s not my fault. I...I...I… need to fight. I need… to make sure… that Kamoshida pays for what he did to Shiho!”

A voice suddenly emerges. _That’s right. You were never one to be a bystander._

Mishima clutches his head as his head ruptures in intense agony. _You seek power; that I can give you. You seek it to make a difference, yes? Make a pact with me. I can give you what you need, what you desire; you can use my power to smite all those who have wronged you and your friends. I can tell… the ‘other you’ has been waiting for quite some time… I am thou… Thou art I… come… awaken to your true sense of justice!”_ Blood seeped from his fingers as he clutched his forehead. Suddenly a mask appeared. It resembled that of a bucket hat extending to his nose with wings adorning the sides. He gripped it and tore it straight off, erupting in a column of blue flames and momentarily throwing the guards into disarray.

Yuki readied her sword and slashed through two guards in the midst of their disarray, disintegrating them. Two guards remained. 

The column of fire disintegrated as Mishima stepped through, clad in a simplistic black, tight-fitting onesie, but not the cringy variety. The Persona behind him though…

That persona was the definition of breathtaking. Chiseled arms, chiseled face, chiseled figure... that Persona looked as if it got plastic surgery but everything about its looks was too natural to think it was. Yuki then slaps herself. _Now's not the time to be admiring a Persona's figure. I need to rein in my feelings and attraction._

The Persona shouted, “I am Mercury, the god of thieves, travelers, and medicine! Let me steer your path to victory!” Mishima then promptly vanishes; she was confused; was he trying to run from battle?”

The guards cried, “To arms!” They disintegrated into red puddles as they became a Bicorn and a pair of Kelpies. However, the Bicorn looked off, judging by the flickering purple aura it exuded.

Yuki readies her sword and grasps her mask. A voice calls out to her. “Watch out, that thing looks like he’s tougher than the standard lot.” A voice? She looks around. 

The voice said again. “It’s me, Mishima. Looks like invisibility is one of my powers. Not exactly the top of my fervent wishes for superpowers, but up there and it’ll have to do. And why don’t I have a weapon!?”

Yuki was flabbergasted. Mishima had a support Persona. Futaba had been Yuki and the alternate Phantom Thieves’ navigator, but they only managed to recruit her once they had infiltrated her Palace (Long story; she wanted them to change her heart, but it wasn’t proven to be that easy seeing she was relatively guarded around everyone, even the Sojiro she once knew. Futaba managed to get into her Palace and also awakened her Persona, Necronomicon, in the process. However, that was still three months off, assuming Yuki could rely upon her knowledge as being accurate). This changed everything. “Mishima, determine the guards’ weaknesses.”

Mishima is confused. “I beg your pardon? How do I do—?”

Yuki snapped, “Just do it! If I fall down, then they’ll be after you, not that they’ll find you.” She lowers her voice. “Sorry. It’s just that the others kinda just grasped it in the heat of the moment, and you’re just… a little slow on the uptake. In battle, that can mean the difference between victory or defeat.”

Mishima concentrates. He manifests Mercury to analyze the guards. “Seems like all of them have a weakness to electricity. I remember you fought those same Personas and they were all weak to electricity. The only difference is that the horse looks stronger and sturdier than similar ones, based on its aura.” Mishima also added, “What’s this? Here’s a buff, it looks like.” 

Yuki feels a Tarukaja buff cast upon her. Yuki calls upon Agathion. “Zio!”

The Zio strikes the Bicorn, stunning it. 

Mishima calls it out. “Stun! Do it again, Amamiya-kun!”

As the Kelpies look on in confusion, she utilized the chance to land another Zio on a Kelpie, also stunning it. She then uses the Kelpies’ fear to use another Zio, finally stunning all the enemies. Mishima kept commenting all through, noting their enemies’ status conditions.

Yuki feels she isn’t out of the woods yet. 

Mishima adds, “It seems the Bicorn can still take damage from electricity attacks. However, you can also try a physical one.”

Yuki nods and removes her mask. “Irene! Giant Slice!”

Irene apparates out of thin air, drawing her sword and slicing the Bicorn in half, dissolving it in half. Strangely, however, it blows up, destroying the Kelpies as well in the process.

Yuki feels her mask reappear and sheathes her sword. She looks for any sign of reinforcements but hears none. 

Just then Mishima appears. “Whew! I thought we were done for.”

Yuki stops him at that. “Agreed. Nice job, Mishima. First, we save the others. We’ll decide later if we want to continue forward.”

Mishima nods. “Since I’ve awakened, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten some seriously wicked powers. That trapdoor we found? That chute that leads to the dungeon, there’s apparently a small lift hidden somewhere in the library that leads down to it.”

Yuki nods. “Perfect.” She activates Third Eye, to see that one of the torches seemed out of place in the secret makeshift torture chamber. She pulls on it, and the bookcase slides open to reveal a small lift, perfect to fit four people inside, maybe even five people. Before they leave though… she unsheathes her sword and slices open the cognitive Mishima's chains. 

Cognitive Mishima falls to the ground in a heap. He looks up at Yuki. “Why? I know I’m not the real Mishima… and I’d had already given up hope...”

Yuki smiles. “If the real Mishima can persevere, then so can you. After all, from everything you’ve said, you’re just like him.”

Cognitive Mishima rubs his hands and his feet. “Thank you. I’ll make sure your kindness doesn’t go to waste.” He rushes out of the library.

Mishima turns to her. “Should we have let that me just walk out like that, with no way to defend himself?”

Yuki turns to Mishima. “I’m sure that after watching you, he won’t leave himself defenseless. Enough chitchat, though. We have to save the others. Let’s go.”

* * *

Ryuji, Ann, and Mona plummeted down to a landing. 

Ryuji shouted, “Just how deep is this pit?”

Ann screamed, “We’re going to die! We’re going to die!”

The three of them then noticed that they fell through an additional hole, as the ground closed in.

Mona yells, “Le Fay! Siegfried! Brace yourselves! Garu!”

At Mona’s command, a gust of wind manipulated into a tornado appeared and softened their landing as they got whipped into the tornado and then landed softly on the ground.

Ryuji nods. “Blackjack, nice assist. We just barely survived being pancakes upon impact!” He looks around; thankfully, the area was lit by torches. “Where the hell are we?”

Mona squints. “Judging by the bars, we’re in Kamoshida’s dungeon. More specifically, a jail cell.”

Ryuji shouts, “Oh hell no! Let’s bust out of here!” He then notices Yuki and Mishima not amongst them. “Where did they go?”

Ann offers, “I saw Adler right next to Mishima. I think she managed to use her grappling hook to get out of the pit trap.”

Ryuji cracks his knuckles. “All the more reason for us to get out of here and meet up back with them. Unless Mishima awakens to a Persona… they’re lacking in firepower to rescue us. We’ll just have to rescue ourselves.”

Ryuji grasps his mask. “Galahad, Cleave!”

Galahad appears and swings his shield in an arc, but it clangs off of the metal bars. Ryuji is flummoxed. “The hell!? What is this? I thought we could have smashed or sliced through those bars like butter.”

Mona sighs. “I’ll go look for a vent or something we can use to crawl out of here.” He begins to peruse the walls.”

Ryuji motions to Ann. “Think your Persona could melt the bars off for us to make our escape?”

Ann shrugs. “Worth a try.” She grabs her mask. “Morgaine, Agi!”

Morgaine appears and blasts the metallic cell bars with a fiery blaze. It appears to have slightly melted the bars but not enough to create an opening.

Ann sighs. “It worked, but not by much.” She shouts, “Blackjack! Did you find anything!?”

Mona shouts back, “No! Not yet!”

Ryuji turns to Ann. “I’m not waiting for Yu… er, I mean Adler, to come to rescue us. How many of those fireballs do you think you can muster?”

Ann shakes her head. “Not much, I’m afraid. I think I still have enough to do around 10 more of those fireballs.”

Mona rejoins them. “The walls are flush. No vents or even a little tunnel for us to crawl out of here. You have a plan, Siegfried?”

Ryuji gestures at the slightly mushy bars. “We’re going to use Le Fay’s fire and your wind to stoke a blaze hot enough to melt the cell bars enough for an opening, which we’ll use to escape.” He sighs. “It’s a shame Adler held onto all of the useful items we have; we could have used those… SP items, whatever she called it. I just know them as Arginades and Water of Rebirths.”

Mona shook his head. “Not really, she more specifically handed me most everything, only keeping a decent portion for herself. She didn’t trust herself to keep a hold of all the stuff while we’re in here. She must have figured that there’d be situations like these where we’d be split up.” He rummaged in his bags. “As I remember… magic requires a energy drink or similar, while regaining health requires food, for the most part. Ah… here we go… I have just about around 10 Arginades and Water of Rebirths combined. Unfortunately, it looks like Adler kept ahold of most of the loot from the Treasure chest we had in here, including the Soul Drops, Snuff Souls, and Chewing Souls. Those restore more of your ability to churn out spells, but they'll have to do.”

Ryuji steps back. “Well, you know what they say. Wind makes fire hotter and spreads it around. Mona will cast wind first, and then Ann will follow it up with a fireball. If we’re lucky, we’ll melt the bars off this cell before we run out of drinks, maybe even before we use any of them.” He looks around. “It’s silent… a bit too silent. I say we bust out of here before any guards show up.”

* * *

The lift descended, descended, descended, so far below Yuki could have sworn they were in the bowels of the castle.

Yuki impatiently taps her feet as she waits.

Mishima, still invisible, speaks. “You think the others are alright?”

Yuki nods. “Mona’s with them. They’ll be fine. Siegfried’s also there; he’s smarter than you think.”

Mishima is rather incredulous. “To think that he used to be so far removed from academics as track team captain; I mean he’s still not like top 10 in the semester system in the school, but being in the Student Council… it surely has changed him and his attitude towards studying. I’m still amazed to this day; he used to be near the very bottom in the rankings.”

The lift slowly grinds to a halt in front of a hallway lit only with dim torches. Yuki slowly takes position at a wall in the shadows, crouching as she looks deeper in.

A couple of guards patrolled the hallways ahead, but there was plenty of cover for Yuki to jump in between. However, with only herself, Yuki would find it difficult to tangle with so many guards and not run out of steam. She’d have to pace herself and play it smart.

That leaves… Mishima. Yuki whispers, “Mishima, think you can scout ahead and see where the others are? I’d do so, but I’d fear I’d run out of hiding spots before finding them. You’re invisible.”

Mishima would have done a salute if she could actually see him. “Leave it to me!” 

Mishima carefully tip-toes ahead, careful not to bump into any guards. Because the hallways were so narrow, he had to hide behind things like sofas and drawers as guards paced back and forth.

As he got deeper into the hallway, there still was no sign of them. Mishima was beginning to fear they were somewhere else when he heard a loud ‘KABOOM!’ sound out of nowhere. It sounded as if the sound came from deeper inside.

The guards turned around so quickly that Mishima had to duck beneath the cover of a sofa in order to not get stampeded by them.

It seems Yuki also heard it too as she came rushing in a while after the guards all went to investigate the explosion. “You heard that!?”

Mishima nods. “Yeah, it sounded like a big explosion. Could it be…?”

Yuki laughs. “I don’t think Kamoshida has some sort of demolition crew or something. Let’s go and see.”

They rush in, only to hear another ‘KABOOM!’ as soon as they got deeper into the dungeon. They followed the sound and saw guards lying on the ground, disintegrating. 

A thick cloud of smoke hung in the air, forcing Yuki to pinch her nose and mouth shut.

Then she heard Ryuji. “Urggh! This smoke is awful. And why do I smell something singed!?”

She then heard Ann comment, “Same! I don’t want to get secondhand smoke in here. Mona, do something!”

She then hears Mona. “...All right. Garu!”

A gust of wind suddenly collects all the smoke and transports up the same vent Ryuji, Ann, and Mona fell through.

Ryuji sighs. “Better, much better… hey, it’s Adler!”

Ann shouts, “Really!?” She then notices Yuki. “It’s you!” She ran up and hugged her. 

Yuki got taken aback, as Ann collided with her. More apparent was her… assets colliding with that of Ann’s. If she was still Ren Amamiya, she’d swear she’d have... something perking up right now. Even still, Yuki thought: _Is this what women mean by skinship? I mean we’re still fully clothed, but I feel funny. Not to mention her… boobs are touching my… own; this is just too weird for me to process._

Yuki shakes these thoughts out of her mind. “Need… room… to… breathe…”

Ann heard her and released her grip. “Oops! I guess I got a bit too excited!”

Yuki flexed her head. “It’s all good… what happened to you guys?”

Ryuji points at the hole in the bars. “We landed in a jail cell. What you see here is how we managed to escape. Mona used wind, Ann used fire, and well, we weren’t expecting an explosion. Did take a while though; I almost thought we would die of smoke inhalation before we got out of there.” Ryuji looks around. “Where’s Mishima?”

A voice spoke out of thin air. “Here, Sakamoto. Or rather it’s where I am if you can see me.”

Yuki explains. “He awoke to his Persona while I was fending off a cadre of guards back in the library. Apparently, his Persona gave him the power of invisibility.”

Ann groans. “Invisibility? That’d be something I need. I mean look at my costume!”

Mona nudges Yuki on her right shoulder. “Guys… I think we have company. Look.” He points towards the lift.

A golden-armored guard appeared from the end of the hallway, rushing in. It appeared to be the same one they saw earlier. He must have also taken the lift when he heard the rumblings of the explosion. “It’s you! Causing havoc in King Kamoshida’s castle, have you! Well, you will now perish!” He dissolved into a red puddle, as a Berith emerged. 

Yuki shouts, “Battle Formation, everyone! Also, Mishima awoke to his Persona and he seems to have support utilities for us to use.”

Mona shouts, “Awesome. Tell us how to beat this guy!”

Mishima seemed to have cringed at the harshness. “Not omniscient, man! All I can tell you to do is spam attacks until one happens to stun him.”

Yuki squints. “I guess everyone spams their element, and I’ll spam Bufu with Silkie! Someone’s got to have this guy’s weakness pat down!”

Mona went first, being the quickest. Garu did damage, yes, but no toppling down Berith.

Ann went next. Agi did very little damage, it seems like, with Berith not even fazed in the slightest.

_If Fire is not effective, that means…_ Yuki grasps her mask. “Silkie! Bufu!”

Silkie appears and sends a cluster of ice at Berith, who collapses to the ground, dazed.

Mishima shouts, “Surround him!”

They surround Berith, guns at the ready. Berith groaned. “You thieves… won’t get away with this…”

Yuki smiles. “Tell Kamoshida we’re coming for him soon. And he’d better shake in fear because we’ll deal with him and his dragon. Or... you would if you wouldn't die.” She turns to the others. “Prepare for an All-Out Attack!”

They jump back, leap in the air, and pummel Berith senselessly, but he was still hanging on. Yuki could see though that Berith was very tired.

Yuki shouts, “Siegfried! Give him everything you’ve got!”

Ryuji shouts back, “With pleasure! Galahad, Zio!”

A bolt of electricity erupts from Galahad’s spear, disintegrating Berith into a crisp.

Yuki breathes a sigh of relief as she checks for guards. “Looks like we dealt with all of them. Now, we should retreat back to a safe room. From there we can decide if we had enough for today. I think I saw a safe room near the library. There’s a lift down the hallway that emerges in the library.”

Ryuji jabs a finger at blank space. “We're forgetting something. What about Mishima’s nickname?”

Yuki sighs. “Right. Let’s evacuate back to that safe room I mentioned.”

They made their way to the lift and Yuki cranks the lever; the lift goes up.

Mona nods. “So while we’re waiting to get back up there… you guys have any idea about Mishima’s nickname?”

Ann shrugs. “Ghost because he’s invisible?”

Yuki looks at where Mishima’s supposed to be. “Your take?”

Mishima comments, “Hmm… I like it, but it lacks that certain appeal like the rest of your codenames.”

Yuki offers, “Specter?”

Mishima casts doubt. “Hmm… it’s like most of your codenames derive from fiction and mythology; ooh, I want to be Shinigami!”

Ryuji squints, “You want to have your nickname be something inspired from that anime?”

Mishima took great offense. “Hey! Tite Kubo drew inspiration from Japanese folklore and mythology, not the other way around.” Ryuji backed off, putting his hands up in the air to concede.

Yuki nods. “Shinigami… it certainly rolls off the tongue. If you like it, Mishima, then you’re Shinigami.”

Mishima seems to be leaping up in joy. “All right!”

The lift suddenly stops at the library, as the shelf rolls open. 

Yuki exited the lift and motioned. “The safe room is just down the hallway and to the right.”

They warily walked over to the safe room, on the lookout for reinforcements of any sort. Once they got inside the safe room, they all breathed a sigh of relief as they collapsed on the couches and on chairs.

  
  
  


Mona shouts, “I think I have a plan on how we can deal with the dragon.”

Yuki smirks. “Oh, does it have something to do with what you guys did earlier? By the way, Mona… how good are you at making explosives?”

Mona looks at her. “You kidding me!? I’m just as good as… oh, that’s brilliant! We’ll lure the dragon and trap it with explosives! That way it’ll be trapped or dead and we won’t have to deal with it directly! Of course… how do we set up a trap?”

Yuki raises an eyebrow. “Meat, of course! We can bring food in here! I’m sure we can buy like a whole chicken or a turkey or something and use it as bait. We can put explosives and bait on top of one of the towers, and then while the dragon’s eating… boom! We collapse the floor and also make sure to lob explosives at the dragon to stun it. It’ll fall down, then we’ll demolish the tower with explosives to create a living tomb for it.”

Ann and Ryuji nod. “Sounds like the best plan we have available. I’ll take it over fighting a dragon head-on.”

Yuki smiles. _Kamoshida, we’re coming after you with a vengeance. You better shake in fear; nothing will save you from us._

* * *

\- A short while later -

\- Kamoshida’s Throne Room - 

* * *

Shadow Kamoshida asks his guards. “Where are the intruders currently?”

A golden-plated guard speaks. “They seemed to have already infiltrated the cathedral, my King.”

Shadow Kamoshida fidgets with his chin. “Make sure they can’t get farther! I don’t put up with you worthless cretins to see you fail to kill them!”

The guard salutes. “King Kamoshida, absolutely!”

Shadow Kamoshida nods. “One more thing. How’s the dragon?”

The guard kept saluting. “He’s sleeping… my King!”

Shadow Kamoshida groans. “And to think I wasted all my effort on acquiring a dragon to get rid of those pesky brats who are plain and simple buffoons. What the hell is it doing?”

Cognitive Ann appears and strokes Shadow Kamoshida’s arm, perching on the side of his throne. She spoke in a rather seductive yet monotone voice, “Aww… don’t be mad, my lord Kamoshida. It’s not good for you. I know… let me massage your shoulders. Maybe later we can get down to… business.”

Shadow Kamoshida sighs but sports a small grin. “You’re right… one of you, rouse that dragon! I need it to defend the throne room. More specifically, the treasure room from those pesky intruders! I don’t care if that person dies, just do it!”

The guards salute. “At once, King Kamoshida!”

They file out of the throne room, leaving Shadow Kamoshida alone with cognitive Ann.

Shadow Kamoshida then embraces cognitive Ann. “Let’s go to my… chambers.”

Shadow Kamoshida snaps his fingers. Cognitive Shiho appears out of nowhere. She is wearing a risque bunny cosplay, with a matching bikini. “You too.”

Shadow Shiho croons, “Yes, my lord. Anything to please you, my lord.”

  
Shadow Kamoshida grins. _Excellent. This is the life I had envisioned for myself. Having two wonderful playthings… three, what with that new girl. I haven’t seen her much, but she’s as much of a treat as Takamaki and Suzui are... Now, if only my guards and that dragon can deal with those pesky intruders..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mishima could literally be the perfect assassin ever, with his invisibility. However, as a navigator, he lacks certain things Futaba possesses, such as:
> 
> \- The power to warp cognition
> 
> \- Healing potential
> 
> \- Does not have the current potential to assist in All-Out Attack (will unlock later and will be easier to trigger than Futaba's AOA)
> 
> As for Mishima's perks compared to Futaba, he's supposed to be more offensive-oriented than Futaba, or for that matter, Rise or Fuuka. He eventually will get abilities to support further combat-support perks. 
> 
> I'm still trying to come up with benefits for Mishima in combat and how to mix them up with his original confidant perks. I do want him to have a very busted navigators ability where he can confuse the enemy through some other way other than cognition to allow party members to get additional turns or maybe, to stun alerted enemies so that protag can still get the Ambush. Either one of the two, I haven't decided yet. (Yes, I know that BackFlip in Royal is the latter, but I still have a bunch of ideas).
> 
> Suggestions, predictions, anything, feel free to comment below.
> 
> P.S: Yes, I had to throw in references to Arthurian mythology, AC: Valhalla, and Bleach. Little fun references like in Jujutsu Kaisen.


	12. Aspirations of the Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mishima and Ryuji have a talk amongst themselves and Ryuji opens up about his plans after Kamoshida is dealt with.
> 
> Yuki and Ann checks in on Shiho and likewise have a talk about how Shiho is coping and about other minute details. Shiho is still recuperating and dealing with the fallout of that traumatic experience along with her parents being relatively uncaring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while. A very late Happy New Year! I would wish for 2021 being better, but I guess it's been on the same par as 2020 in just a week.
> 
> Now, the reason why it's taken more time is that I had another chapter drafted, one filled with more action and concluding palace infiltration up to and before they confront Kamoshida, but I wondered, what if we took a step back from that, and take a detour to see how Shiho is doing. Also, maybe get some insight into their plans after Kamoshida has been dealt with.

4/20/16

Shujin

Noon, Lunch Break

Ryuji Sakamoto

* * *

  
  


Ryuji was casually lounging in the student council room, eating his lunch. Before he got recruited into the student council, he found the rooftop to be a perfect place for him to find the peace and quiet he needed, away from Kamoshida and everything.

Now that he’s part of the Student Council, he found the Student Council room to be a better place for him to seek privacy. Sure, not many students would use the rooftop, but it was still public, so anyone who really wanted to could drop by. 

On the other hand, with the Student Council room, he could eat in peace without having anyone drop by... three sharp knocks interrupt him. 

He sighs. So much for that line of thinking. Of course, he’s still the acting Student Council President, so he often gets called in the midst of lunch to attend to trivial matters or to break up fights.

He gets up from his seat and moves towards the door. He opens it and finds Mishima.

Ryuji is a bit surprised as he nods. “Mishima? What are you doing here?”

Mishima smiles. “Hey, Sakamoto! I was hoping I could find a quiet place to eat. I was going to use the rooftop, but Yuki and that gymnast girl Yoshizawa, along with another girl I’ve not had the chance to know, are there. If I stayed there, it would have gotten weird. Anyway, I also wanted to ask something of you.”

Ryuji shrugs. “Go ahead.”

He lets Mishima go in and sit down, while Ryuji closes the door. Ito and Mari were probably enjoying lunch in their respective classrooms; that bodes well for his preferences of not being disturbed. Mishima is an exception; after all, Yuki and the rest of them did recruit him to the team just yesterday.

Ryuji goes back to sit down and continues eating the yakisoba pan that he picked up from a bakery before school. Most days, the school cafeteria would run out of food by the time he got down there, so he always bought food before school, even if it was a little expensive. He always changed his food up though so he wouldn’t get sick of it too easily.

A period of silence continued except for the sounds of eating. Mishima finally broke the silence. “Hey, Sakamoto, once we deal with Kamoshida, are you going to rejoin the track team?”

Ryuji looks up. “That’s unexpected. Huh. To be honest, I haven’t actually thought that far ahead. It’s been almost a year since I quit track. When Kamoshida quits, I’m not sure. It’s complicated right now; the Student Council is already understaffed as is with the continued absence of Niijima-senpai, so if I were to rejoin the track team, I’d have to continue duties, at least until we can find a suitable replacement.” He sighs. “Although, I probably won’t be able to handle two afterschool activities, given how much work a Student Council President has.”

He looks up. “Even still, rejoining track… it’s difficult. At first, I wanted to join track so I could get a scholarship somewhere so my mom wouldn’t have to worry too much about college tuition. When I quit track, of course, she strangely wasn’t mad. She somehow understood that quitting track for me was a matter of principle. I even told her my suspicions about Kamoshida, and you know what she told me? “If that’s what you think you should do, then that’s what you should.” 

Mishima looks down. “You said your mom, but never mentioned your dad.” Upon seeing Ryuji wince, Mishima shrunk. “Sorry, is that a sore subject?”

Ryuji heaved. “It’s… alright. They divorced, for reasons she couldn’t tell me. All she said about it was that my dad never cheated on my mom, but it was like... a short while after they had me, the love they had couldn’t last. It was like maybe the love they had was fleeting; maybe they never did truly love each other. I have no idea. Even now, I don’t know what to think of the guy. I've never met him and probably never will.”

Ryuji rolls his eyes. “Anyways, enough about my family. Track is… complicated. With Kamoshida gone, the reason that made me want to quit track will disappear. That being said, it’s been a while since I did any sort of track and field. I mean I still exercise and keep in shape, but that thrill I used to have… it hasn’t fully disappeared but it’s not driving me anymore.”

Mishima nods. “Oh.”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you always going on about how you wanted to play volleyball? I thought I remembered you joined the volleyball team.”

Mishima nervously chuckles. “Well… that… I quit. I wasn’t making any headway and I didn’t enjoy playing it.”

A sharp set of knocks interrupted them. Ryuji sighs. “And I thought I could eat in peace. At least I finished my yakisoba pan.”

He gets up and opens the door. Ms. Kawakami is standing there. “Kawakami-sensei, hello.”

Ms. Kawakami looks around. “Sakamoto-kun, I have something to talk to you about... Mishima-kun, I’m surprised you’re here as well. Great, that simplifies everything.”

Ryuji is perplexed. “Talk to me about what?”

Ms. Kawakami looks around before speaking. “Apparently, some high schools in Tokyo have made scholarship offers to the school and both of your parents to recruit you two. Sakamoto-kun, you’ve been offered a track scholarship at another school not far from here. Mishima-kun, you’ve been offered one by a school located in Minato Ward. Both of them, I’m told, are excellent schools, on the same caliber as Shujin is, with direct pipelines to prestigious universities here in Tokyo.”

Ryuji holds up a hand. “This is the first time I’m hearing about this.”

Mishima pipes up. “Me too. Kawakami-sensei, where did you hear this from?”

Ms. Kawakami elaborates. “I heard it from Ms. Chuono.” She mutters under her breath, “ _ That woman sure does love her gossip.”  _ Ryuji, being closer, could hear her just barely. Kawakami refuses. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure it went to the principal first. I’m not sure why they made their offers when the semester has already begun, but your parents have already been informed of it. Ultimately, you will have some input on the offer, but the principal has supposedly encouraged both of you to take them up on the offer. Your parents will ultimately be the final decision-makers, given you’re still both juveniles.”

Ryuji nods. “Thanks for telling us this, Ms. Kawakami.”

Ms. Kawakami waves her hand. “Whatever happens, know that I’m rooting for you, Sakamoto-kun. Even if you’re not in my class, you’re still a student of mine. You too, Mishima-Kun.” She walks off towards the teacher’s lounge.

Ryuji closes the door. Mishima speaks up, “That’s weird. The mention of scholarships when we’ve already started Spring term here at Shujin…”

Ryuji nods. “Right, it’s too weird, especially when we’re already dealing with Kamoshida. It almost feels like… Nah, it couldn’t be. On the other hand…”

Mishima groans. “Enough with that. Are we going in today?”

Ryuji shakes his head. “Yuki just texted me no. She’s gonna be doing something else. Also, Mona hasn’t finished making those grappling hooks for all of us yet.”

Mishima nods. “Speaking of Mona, I saw him in the cafeteria, surrounding by a flock of first-years.”

Ryuji smacks his face. “He’s a play-boy all right. Those girls better not get their hopes up too high; I’m sure he has a crush on Takamaki or Amamiya, either of the two.”

Mishima pokes his face, thinking. “Weren’t you in a relationship with Takamaki?”

Ryuji sits down next to Mishima and begins to extend his arm around Mishima, making a vice grip. “We broke up. Ironically, she still isn’t over me yet, at least that’s what I’d like to believe. Truthfully, I wouldn’t care if Mona put the moves on Takamaki; she was getting rather annoying with her constant whining and stalking anyways before everything with Kamoshida. I could finally rest in peace knowing she has a new boyfriend.”

Mishima raised an eyebrow. “You mean she’s not a lesbian?”

Ryuji, drinking his thermos of tea, spat it out. “No! I mean… I don’t know... she did kiss Yuki, but it was probably to tease me. I mean the both of them weren’t exactly on the best of terms when Yuki first started school at Shujin and I was her boyfriend, after all.”

Ryuji coughs. “Anyway, we better finish lunch. We have free time today. I’m thinking of going to Protein Lovers today after school. Got to keep in shape for the next infiltration. Also, help my mom with groceries.”

Mishima nods. “Heading to Akihabara. I need a new computer mouse. My old one’s been acting up on me.” They continued eating, then parted ways when the 5-minute bell rang.

  
  


* * *

4/20/16

Shujin

After School

Yuki Amamiya

* * *

Yuki was about to prepare and head out to Takemi’s to continue helping her with her very still suspicious medical concoctions when outside the gate, she saw Ann. 

She made the internal choice to walk over and tap Ann on the shoulder. “Hey!”

Ann flips around. “...Oh, it’s you! Just the person I was going to look for.”

Yuki is befuddled. “You were looking for me? You sit in front of me during class.”

Ann rolls her eyes. “Yeah. I just got off the phone with Shiho. She’s been released from the hospital. Unfortunately, she can’t come to school yet; she’s been undergoing therapy sessions first. When the doctor says she’s okay to start coming back, she will. Until then, I’ve been emailing her all the assignments and class lecture notes I could get.”

Yuki, remembering Ann’s grades in the previous timeline, couldn’t help but shudder. Barring Ryuji back then, she had the second-worst grades of the group, only excellent at English. “I hope you took good notes for her. She doesn’t need horrible notes; she’ll only fail.”

Ann huffed. “I do so take good notes... okay, maybe a little exaggeration, but they’re fine! Anyway, she’s currently at home right now. She’s been meaning to ask me when you’re going to drop by and visit her.”

Yuki looks up. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t actually gone to see her… I’ve been too busy preparing for that other thing that I didn’t have the time to.” She grimaced. “Still, I was planning to…”   
  


Ann looks at her. “Come on! Shiho really wants to talk to you. She keeps saying she wanted to talk to you ever since then but you’ve never dropped by. At least hear her out in person.”

Yuki contemplates the matter. She indeed was the one who prevented Shiho from jumping; she must have felt scared and hopeless. After all, Yuki was the only reason she wasn’t physically hurt. Yuki nods. “All right. I suppose I can spare one day with her.”

Ann nods. “All right! Let’s start heading over there. I’ll lead you over there; I’ve been to her house plenty of times before.”

Yuki stops her before she can walk off. “Ann… you didn’t tell her about what we’ve been doing, right?”   
  


Ann stops. Yuki couldn’t see her face. “No… I haven’t. I really want to, but I just couldn’t say it. I think she’s too smart to not know that we’re not up to something, but I can’t tell if she suspects something.”

* * *

Yuki looks around. Shiho’s parents had a house outside of Harajuku. It was relatively quite nice, and in a good neighborhood, affluent by a stretch.

Ann led her up to the gate and rang the doorbell. The gate buzzed open. Ann then leads Yuki inside where Shiho opens the door.

Ann walks up to Shiho and gives her a big hug. “Shiho! Are you doing alright? Are you eating well?”

Yuki takes a quick glance at Shiho. Shiho seemed calmer, though it looked like she lost a bit of weight. She also seemed to be paler than last they met. Maybe she didn't go outside too often.

Shiho carefully extricated herself from Ann. “I’m doing much better, Ann. Thank you for asking. Did you bring me your notes? I hope they’re not chicken scratch; I swear I couldn’t read half of the notes you gave me yesterday.”

Yuki snickers as Ann pales. “Not you too, Shiho! Oh, before I forget, Yuki came along today. She wanted to check in with how you’re doing; she’s sorry that she didn’t have time to come by before today.”

Yuki walked closer to Shiho and then hesitated. A handshake or a hug? She wondered; usually, she wasn’t the expressive type aside from a handshake of solidarity.

Shiho thankfully took the initiative and gave Yuki a hug. “Thanks so much, Yuki.”

Yuki, unsure, reciprocates. “It was nothing.”

Shiho shakes her head. “Mmm, no. If I had managed to jump off that roof, I would be in excruciating pain right about now, if I wasn’t dead. In addition to all of that…”

Yuki prevents her from going in that direction of thinking. “Don’t worry. Just focus on taking care of yourself.”

Shiho removes herself from the hug. “Oh yeah, I should invite you two inside. We’re all going to catch a cold if we stay out too long.”

Shiho walks inside. Ann and Yuki follow. Inside, Yuki felt quite at home with the cozy feeling the decor gave her. Shiho leads them up to her room, where she has a couple of cushions and a couple of bean bag chairs situated around a small table. She takes a seat on a cushion, Yuki and Ann on the bean bag chairs. “My parents are out right now, so it’s just me usually, at least until you guys visited.” Yuki detected a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Ann spoke up. “So when are you going back to… school?”

Shiho looks down. “My therapist recommended that we move schools immediately so that I won’t reopen and relive the trauma. Additionally, it all has to do with…”

Yuki interjected. “That’s good for you. I noticed you seemed resentful when you mentioned your parents. Are they being… difficult?”

Shiho sighs. “They’ve always been… out-of-touch with me. I don’t even think they cared that much when they got the call from the hospital and the principal. I’m grateful that I don’t have to go to school for the time being, that they drive me to the therapist, and that they let me have my privacy while I’m dealing with everything, but other than that… I wish they cared about me enough to show me.”

Ann put a hand to her mouth. “Shiho… you don’t mean to say you think your parents don’t love you or anything like that?”

Shiho nods. “You took the words out of my own mouth. It’s what I believe; how else would they have not cared when I went to them beforehand about all the abuse and even now, when I’m relying on some antidepressants to cope with everything? They haven’t even started looking for a new school for me to transfer to.”

Yuki sharply inhales and exhales. “About the antidepressants… are they working for you?”

Shiho fidgets with her hair. “Well… I take them in moderation. They kinda mess me up if I rely too heavily on them so I use half-doses than what my doctor prescribed to me.”

Ann looks down. “Are you going to transfer?”

Shiho looks out the window. “It’s… difficult. On the one hand, I feel like I can finally go to school after everything with no fear of having to think about the past. On the other hand, I know… that person is going to laugh at me and I don’t want him to have the satisfaction that he got away with it.”

Yuki nods. “It’s a hard choice. I would personally choose the former not because you’re weak, Shiho, but because it resembles a new beginning for you.” She sharply jabs Ann.

Ann yelps, “Ow! O-O-Of course, I agree with Yuki.” Her voice turns sad. “It’s going to be lonely without you around, Shiho, but we can still hang out after school.”

Shiho gives a small smile. “You’ll have Yuki with you even if I’m not around.”

Yuki nudged Ann. “You know, Shiho, you can always stay at Ann’s place. Have a proper sleep-over.”

Shiho nods. “I’ve been to her apartment before; it was a real pig-sty, that place. Clothes and shoe-boxes everywhere; I couldn’t find somewhere to sit everytime I went to her place.”

Ann stews in frustration. “Hey! I’m a model and I live by myself, you know! I try my best to clean up, but when you’re expected to have a big wardrobe, what can you do?”

Shiho has only the smallest of smiles as she continues, “I did pack a duffel bag in the unlikely case I had an irreconcilable disagreement with my parents. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” 

Yuki holds her hands out. “You mind if I can look at the notes Ann wrote for you?”

Shiho, wordlessly, hands over the pictures on her phone. Yuki peruses it. “Wow, Ann, she was right, your notes really are chicken scratch.”

Ann bumped Yuki. “Hey!”

Yuki continues. “Ann, are you just not that interested in class? I mean I know how boring Inui, Ushimaru, and Hirata are, but still... this is illegible.”

Ann turns a deep shade of crimson. “...Don’t you hate school too, Yuki?”

Yuki looks at Ann. She had to be careful with how she answered considering her background. “Huh? I mean I was an idol, so I didn’t have much time to go to school. I’ve always had homeschooling with private tutors; being in a classroom is… refreshing, for a change of pace.” She realized: too little, too late. Oops.

Ann slaps her head. “You’re an idol? That means... Oh my god, I was talking to  _ the  _ Yuki Amamiya!? I’m so sorry! If I’d known... I wouldn’t have said those mean things about you and… kissed you. That explains it... I mean an idol is always busy practicing and appearing on variety shows, so you never had time to sit in an actual class.”

Shiho raised an eyebrow. “Kissed her? As in, locked lips? I never knew you swung that way, Ann.” Yuki detected a hint of mockery in her voice.

Yuki could only nod at Shiho before Shiho’s jaw dropped to the floor. Shiho continued, “Wow… I mean… just wow! Kissing a girl you’ve only just met… takes guts. Especially if it’s a girl doing it to another girl.”

Yuki looked at Ann with something akin to confusion. “What was up with that kiss anyway?”

Ann groans. “Now you’re both teasing me? Stop! I just did it because I wanted to tease Ryuji. I was pissed that he broke up with me and that he got chummy with Yuki being the new student here too quickly. I decided I just wanted to see him flustered so I just did it.” She put a hand up. “Moving on! How is life as an idol, by the way?”

Yuki calmly said, “It’s very strenuous and very active. My schedule is completely full and breaks are nearly non-existent. Between private tutors and the show business, I barely have actual downtime for myself.”

Shiho punches Ann. “Ann, don’t be rude. That reminds me, you must be that  _ Yuki Amamiya  _ that was mentioned in the news. If you’re her, you went on extended hiatus. I’m sure Yuki doesn’t want to be reminded of that life; she wanted to live a more slow-paced life as a teen like us. The thing is, I thought your family didn’t live in Tokyo and that you had an older sister who was a seiyuu.”

Yuki holds up her hands. “It’s alright. The thing about me going to Shujin is a long story, and my parents don’t want me to talk about it. Anyways, Shiho, how about I lend you my notes?”

Yuki digs in her satchel for the notes she took in her notebook and then hands it to Shiho. She flips through it. “Wow, I’m impressed. I can actually study off of this if I wanted to; it’s so neat and detailed.”

Ann scoots in. “Really?” She looks in the notebooks and then turns back to Yuki with puppy dog eyes. “Please, can you tutor me?”

Yuki raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’re gonna give me that look?” She makes eye contact with Shiho. “Don’t the two of you have study sessions before?”

Shiho grimaced. “I always made sure to try to stay on top of class even with volleyball, but Ann… she’s a special case. Aside from English, I’m pretty sure she’s relatively hopeless.”

Yuki sighs. “Ann, you do know exams are coming up right?”

Ann plays with her fingers. “Aargh… I’m sorry, okay! I’ve been busy with my model side gig; models keep not showing up and I haven’t had much time to study at night because I get stuck on the stupid worksheets Hiruta gives us. I keep practicing, but I keep getting stuck, and I don’t have time to ask Hiruta about the problems after school because I immediately get called to work.”

Yuki rolls her eyes. “Fine… after we’ve dealt with everything… we’ll see about making time. I expect you to make time for me, especially during Golden Week.”

Ann blanched in shock. “Even Golden Week?”

Yuki nods. “Yes, unless  _ you’d  _ prefer me to not help you.”

Ann got down and bowed. “No! I mean yes! I need you to help me with class! I’ll be sure to call in sick or something, anything! Just please don’t let me fail! My parents will cut my spending allowance if I don’t get good marks.”

Yuki sighs. “Let’s get to work starting today, I guess. By the way, you said you lived alone. I’m guessing your parents…”

Ann looks down. “They’re abroad, working at one of their fashion shows. I have a housekeeper who comes by once a week to clean and there’s a live-in cook with me who cooks my meals. They give me an allowance, and they keep in touch, but the last time…” She winced. “They weren’t so happy with my grades so they gave me until the next exam to change it. If I don’t… I’d be forced to rely more on picking up as many modeling gigs as I can, so I can satisfy my... inner food blogger and my clothes addiction.”

Shiho rolls her eyes in exasperation. “I love sweets as much as you do, Ann, but don’t you think it would be smart to cut back on that?”

Ann is in shock. “You’re not calling me fat, aren’t you?” She covers her eyes with her arm. “You’re just so mean, Shiho.”

Shiho lightly punches Ann. “You’ve no idea what to do without me, though.”

Ann lowers her arm. “Yeah… anyway, I don’t want to rely on my looks for everything. Plus, I don’t know whether I want to commit to being a model as a career, so I need to have good grades to get into a university.”

Yuki’s phone buzzed. She checked it. The text was from Mona.  _ Got the materials for the other grappling hooks. Think I will make grappling guns instead this time. _

Shiho notices Yuki checking her phone. “Something the matter?”

Yuki, startled, placed her phone back in her pocket. “No! It was just a friend. Shiho, when’s your parents coming back?”

Shiho blankly stared. “Who knows… maybe they’ll come back tonight… maybe they’ll sleep in at their workplace…”

Yuki grimaces. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to make you think about that… I was thinking maybe the three of us could have a study session here…”

Shiho checks her phone. No text from her parents yet. “It’s great! If my parents aren’t back at night, maybe we could order food and have a movie night. They said they’d… left money on the counter if it came to that.”

Yuki wonders if maybe the two of them will have to intervene on that front; Shiho could hopefully handle it, but seeing as this behavior had been going on from her parents for some time... Yuki worried that it was putting a 

mentally taxing burden on Shiho, not having her parents care enough about her, treating her as if she was a separate person distanced from their family.

Ann jumps on board. “Yes! I’m totally down for that. Maybe we wouldn’t even need to order food, we could make something ourselves instead!”

Yuki nods. “Whatever we decide, let’s study. Ann... you better get serious about this.”

Ann dismisses the thought. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll pay attention… here and in class.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Narukami and Shirogane, Investigators

Around the Same Time

  
  


* * *

Naoto was busy compiling all the information she gathered from Shiho Suzui on the accusation of rape towards Suguru Kamoshida. She worked on it for days now; she even tried to go to Shujin to see if there were any more victims willing to come forward and offer testimony. Of course, there were none, not with the perpetrator still holding his job in the school.

Naoto felt sick to the stomach with Suzui’s testimony. As much as she didn’t want to force Suzui to continue going, she did. That being said, she could very much feel the disgust in her voice as she recounted what he did to her. Naoto made a silent resolution that she was not going to let Suguru Kamoshida get away with this.

Hours passed by before she decided it was time to clock out. She was almost nearly done filing her report.

A phone rang. It was the office phone. Naoto picked it up. “Naoto Shirogane of Narukami and Shirogane, Investigators. How can I help you?”

Naoto silently listened as the other voice in the line talked. She then asked the caller a question, to which there was a response. When done, she bid adieu and hung up.

She slammed her desk in frustration. For some reason, her contacts in the police force had recently just mentioned to her that the police were dropping Shiho’s case of sexual assault and the police chief indeed just called her right now to affirm that yes, he was dropping the case. Naoto had tried to get a question in edgewise telling him to reconsider, to which the police chief had said that the prosecutor’s office would not be taking up the case for prosecution and that it was out of their hands entirely, as the decision had been made by the higher-ups. She held in her emotions as she bid him a good day.

Naoto found it hard for her to command much respect among the police. Even if she was cold and logical, the fact remains that she was a woman, and even if she made her peace with that fact, the male-dominated police force saw her as a woman and saw her behavior as something not befitting of one.

Even still… Naoto found it difficult to let this one go. Shiho Suzui… even though their circumstances have been vastly different, she felt a sort of kinship with her. She seemed to be the type to not give up, to not give in.

Naoto resolved that if she has to, she’ll conduct her own investigation secretly, even without sanction.

After all, Masayoshi Shido is indeed a part of the higher-ups in the National Diet and the executive branch. Odds are if she looked into this, there is the slightest chance she could very well find something to help her with her mission assigned by Mitsuru Kirijo.

  
Naoto looks at a picture of Shiho Suzui, attached to a dossier on her desk with all the evidence she currently has.  _ I may be down, but I’m not out.  _


	13. Night of Shattered Dreams (Part I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuki and Ann have a talk about their respective circumstances. Later, Shiho confides in Yuki about her less-than-stellar relationship with her family.
> 
> She also talks with Sojiro about her worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title may remind you of another horrendous event in history. The intention was never meant to evoke images of that event. That being said, I've no clue on what to rename it if need be, as the title of this chapter fits too perfectly.
> 
> I've no idea how many parts I will include in this chapter. It will be determined by how much content I intend to write to explore Shiho's condition in the aftermath.
> 
> The previous chapter along with this chapter is a detour, meant to provide some insight on how Shiho is coping with everything, the perspective of the victim. Shiho's characterization, as you very well may have guessed, is a once-happy girl who separates her personality at home from that of school and with her friends. However, Ann is somewhat aware of the troubles Shiho has at home and can relate, given her own circumstances with her own parents being largely absent from her life.

4/20/16

Yuki Amamiya

Shiho Suzui’s house

Early Evening

* * *

The afternoon went by with Yuki, Shiho, and Ann engaging in a group study session. Despite being an athlete, Yuki found Shiho to be well on top of her studies, so much so that it seemed that practice didn’t hinder her study habits nor her above-average marks. Of course, much could be said about Ann; even in this timeline, it seems that Ann still held her academics in middling regard, much like the other Ann Takamaki she once knew, the bubbly girl with a severe sweet tooth and a top-notch sense of fashion.

Yuki found that Shiho had been managing to keep up with her studies even while being cooped up in her house, counting down the days until she either went back to Shujin or transferred to a different school. She had originally thought that she would have needed to help Shiho but it seems that Shiho could take care of her academics given good notes, so she focused on tutoring Ann. Of course, Ann’s study habits left a lot to be desired; but by the end of that day’s tutoring session, Yuki felt they had made progress. Granted, it wasn’t much, but if Ann and Yuki went on tutoring sessions on the days during and after they deal with Kamoshida, Yuki felt confident that they could save Ann’s lackluster grades and class ranking.

Shiho was the first to notice the sun setting. “Oh, it’s been that long? Want to call it a day, Yuki-san, Ann?”

Yuki held up a hand. “Okay, that just felt too weird. Just call me by my first name, no honorifics. Even if I was an idol, I always felt weirded out by the use of honorifics. I mean… I know that I lived a different life back then compared to everyone else, but... it just felt off.” She then remembered something. “Oh! Before I forget, I need you guys to keep it a secret that I’m an idol, or rather a former idol.”

Shiho put her hands to her lips and zipped it. “My lips are sealed. Ann’s too, I imagine she’d be scared of what you or I would do to her.”

Ann swats Shiho’s arm. “You don’t scare me. Yuki… on the other hand…” She shudders. “I’ve seen enough to know I shouldn’t mess with her. Who else knows?”

Yuki thinks. “Ryuji and Principal Kobayakawa, only because they’re authority figures. I guess you can say Miss Kawakami also knows, considering she was in the room when I first came to look at the school.”

Ann nods. “I don’t know what to say. I guess we should feel honored that you chose to tell us that, even if it slipped out of your mouth.”

Yuki shrugs. “I felt comfortable.”

Shiho gets up. “I’m going to check if my parents are home yet.” She exits the room.

Ann leans in. “So, about that girl’s night… are we still doing that?”

Yuki whispers back. “Depends. I have to call my guardian. What about you?”

Ann leans back out. “I’m so envious of you…”

Yuki raises an eyebrow. “What for? I’m technically a transfer student, maybe even a boarding student if you consider that I moved to Tokyo for school.”

Ann sighs. “Still, you have a guardian who’s there for you, who cares about you. When I go home, I only have “servants” looking after me, more so a housekeeper.”

Yuki stifles a gasp. “So you are rich!?”

Ann corrects her. “I prefer the term 'lavishly comfortable.'” She smirks at the complex vocabulary she used. “Anyways, my mom’s a fashion designer; dad’s CEO of a fashion line. They always are on the go, attending various Fashion Weeks across the world. The only times I get to see them is if they’re attending Fashion Week here in Japan, or in Korea, or even in China or Taiwan, and only for a few days. Then they’re off. So I don’t have anyone to call home to, besides letting my housekeeper know that I’m staying the night at Shiho’s place.” She sounds wistful. “I wish my parents could be here to celebrate Hatsumode with me, or even Tanabata, or even Hanabi season.”

Yuki made a time-out sign. “Okay, whoa. I thought we were going to order food, have a movie night. I never said anything about staying the entire night. What about school? Night clothes?”

Ann dismisses it. “We can always pop by early in the morning to get a change of clothes. Alternatively, we can drop by our places and pack a night bag.” Her voice lowers. “You’ve noticed Shiho’s mood, right? I’ve been over a couple of times, and her parents aren’t usually home on the days I’m over. I don’t imagine they hate me, but I have a sneaking suspicion… that Shiho has only understated her relationships with her parents, and that it’s much worse.”

Yuki sighs. “Still, I have to talk with my guardian. Where do you live, Ann, by the way?”

Ann leans over. “Harajuku. My parents figured that Harajuku, being the fashion capital of Tokyo, would be a perfect place to put roots in Japan. Of course, it’s a very short detour to Shujin, so…”

Yuki nods. “Anyway, I’ll be back. I gotta step outside to make a call to my guardian. It’s a confidential call.”

Yuki gets up and exits the room. She walks down the stairs to find Shiho in the kitchen getting a glass of water. “Shiho, gotta step outside for a sec. Ann’s asking me if I wanted to stay over, and she clearly wants to, but I have to call my guardian. I’m sure he’s expecting me to get back before dark.”

Shiho nods. “Sure. I’m sorry about Ann, by the way. She can be rather… insensitive of others in that way.”

Yuki shakes her head. “I’m okay with it.”

Yuki extends her hand to twist the doorknob.

Shiho then speaks. “Yuki, how’s your relationship with your parents? With your guardian even?” 

Yuki could hear Shiho shakily breathing. _Best not to upset her or anything._ She decided to use the memories she’d been given to concoct a truthful answer. She answered simply, “I actually don’t know. Since I was an idol for a while now, it made my normal life vastly different. Of course, it also affected my relations with my parents. They knew that I wanted to follow in my sister’s footsteps, and they were really supportive, but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't taken the idol recruiters up on their offer. Maybe I’d be even closer with my parents; still, I’d say that my parents and I are on good speaking terms with one another.” Yuki sheepishly laughs. “As for my guardian, I’ve only known him for about a week and a half now, but from what I’ve seen so far, he’s a nice person.”

She could only hear Shiho exhale. “I… envy you, Amamiya-san. I wish I could have as good a relationship with my parents like you do. I even envy Ann; even though her parents are abroad most of the year, at least they call home to check up on her, or at least what she said.”

Yuki didn’t know how to respond. Shiho continues. “I feel my parents are not on the same wavelength as me. I can’t quite explain it, but it’s not like what other people in school would say about their own parents… it’s like my parents don’t even concern themselves with me.”

Yuki asks, “Shiho, you’ve been saying a lot about your parents, but they still had you and they’re willing to put up with this. Are you sure that they don’t… love you?”

Shiho spat, “If they cared about me, they’d have seen the signs.” Shiho calmed herself down. “Sorry… I have to take an antidepressant; my therapist told me to regulate my emotions and to take one if I.”

Yuki winces as she waves a hand. “Sorry, Shiho. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I’ll be back after a quick call.” She exits the house, pulls out her phone, and dials Sojiro’s phone. Sojiro had given her his number on the first day of school.

Three rings in, Sojiro picks up. “Yes… oh, it’s you, Amamiya-san. It’s getting late; shouldn’t you be heading back to Yongen right about now..”

Yuki sighs. “Sorry, Sojiro. Actually, I wanted to ask you if I could stay over at a friend’s place, Miss Shiho Suzui. She goes to Shujin, or rather she was until recently when an accident occurred.”

Sojiro’s voice came through. “I’m glad that you’re making friends here, but I did promise your parents that I’d look after you while you’re here. That being said, you’re at the age where I can trust you to make decisions. So… convince me why I should.”

Yuki winces. “You see... I can’t make an excuse without going into the topic of my friend’s situation. She’s been in… a tough situation recently. Besides, she has… a complicated relationship with her parents.”

She could swear Sojiro raised his eyebrow if she was speaking in front of him. “Complicated, eh? I get it, you want to look out for her. But isn’t her parents home?”

Yuki is silent, thinking. “No, not right now. My friend Ann, who is also a friend of Shiho, says whenever she came by that Shiho’s parents weren’t home when she came over, and even on sleepovers they never came home.”

Sojiro sighs on his end. “I can tell you have more to say.”

Yuki takes a deep breath. “I’ve also talked to Shiho, and I believe that her parents not being home is more so a recurring event so much that it seems to happen almost regularly. Shiho… also seems to believe her parents don’t have her best interests at heart.”

Sojiro is silent for a bit before he speaks up. “And I’m guessing whatever else you want to say, you can’t because it’d be infringing on her privacy.”

Yuki nods. “That’s right; I want to help her and everything, Sojiro. At the rate this is going, Shiho’s only to get hurt, again. It’ll only result in a massive fight with her parents, which results in nothing good. It’s just a trainwreck waiting to happen.” She sighs. “The thing is, Sojiro, even if I step in, I don’t have the clout or authority to handle the backlash. Her parents and possibly even Shiho herself will only see it as me stepping out-of-bounds. On the other hand, the fact that Shiho is telling me willingly this is that maybe she feels this is the end and that she does want my help.”

The quiet din of the phone connection is apparent as Sojiro listened. “You’re… a good person, Amamiya-san. However, there are times when you can’t step indirectly, so you have to work indirectly, understand? You can come back to my place to pack a night bag. I’m not sure whether I’ll be awake or in LeBlanc if you come back in the morning to get fresh clothes.” Sojiro mutters. “Now that I remember, you said again. What happened… never mind, I don’t want to know anyway. Given everything you just described, it’s astonishing to see her this talkative.”

Yuki waves it off. “Of course. I’ll be back in a bit. Should I drop by LeBlanc for the keys?”

Sojiro affirms. “Yes, drop by LeBlanc first. I locked the house and I can’t leave the cafe, so I need you to get the keys.”

Yuki thanked Sojiro and hung up. She went back inside. Shiho wasn’t in the kitchen. She went upstairs. “Shiho?”

Ann calls out. “Over here!”

Yuki rushes to the bathroom to see Shiho retching into a toilet, Ann holding back her hair. “What happened?”

Ann sighs. “I think her medication didn’t sit well with her. That or she didn’t eat anything the entire day. Anyways, what did your guardian say?”

Yuki points out the window. “He told me to go pack a night bag. He’s okay with me staying the entire night, but…” She points at Shiho. “Is Shiho going to be okay?”

Ann waves her off. “She’ll be fine. My place is like a ten to fifteen-minute walk away, and I don’t have to worry about my housekeeper getting angry at me for staying over. Anyway, I’m sure you live farther than I do. Get going! We’ll switch once you get back.”

Yuki nods. “I’m off then. Hold the fort then. Maybe order some food for takeout. I’ll be back in an hour tops.”

She rushed out of the house and took off towards the nearest station. She took the Yamanote Line to Shibuya and then transferred to the Den-en-Toshi Line. Once she got back to Yongen-Jaya, she rushed back to LeBlanc.

Sojiro was there, smoking a cigarette, with no customers. _It really is a shame to see LeBlanc so empty._ “Sojiro, I’m back.”

Yuki sees the keys tossed at her and barely catches it. “Here are the keys. Take your time, but make sure to lock up behind you and come back here to give the keys back.”

Yuki salutes. “Yes, Sakura-san!” She rushes out and to Sojiro’s house. She opens the gate, but strangely, the door was already open, not left ajar but not locked. _That’s strange; come to think of it, back then when me and the others went to look for Futaba the door was also unlocked; is Sojiro always this careless no matter the timeline?_ She closed the door behind her and walked up the stairs. Futaba seemed to still be in her room; as much as Yuki would love to see whether Futaba is out or not, she’ll have to take a pass on it.

She walks to her room, remembers to bring another duffel bag, and begins to pack a set of nightclothes, and another uniform set, along with a lingerie set. (Yuki, by now, has gotten more used to the idea of needing a set of specific undergarments for her specific womanly… characteristics, but still… she found the whole situation she got put into a bit jarring).

She slips on her duffel bag and steps out of her room. Just then, Futaba’s door opens.

Futaba Sakura, the little orange gremlin, steps outside, rubbing her eyes. “Sojiro…? You’re back early… a little too early, but..." Her stomach growls. "I want curry, I hunger!”

Yuki puts up a hand. “Hi, Futaba!”

Futaba stops in her tracks, fumbling for her glasses. She slaps them on. Her face pales, and she slowly steps back. “Hiiiiii… Bye!!! Who are you? I’m not ready for this!” She slams her door and locks it from within, the clicking of the locks loud and sharp.

Yuki sighs. “So much for breaking Futaba out of her shell sooner rather than later.” She rushes back to LeBlanc, making full sure to lock the door properly.

Yuki enters LeBlanc and sets the keys on the table. “Thanks, Sojiro. However, the door wasn’t locked. Also... I saw Futaba, but she ran back inside her room.”

Sojiro scratched his head. “I guess I’ve forgotten to lock the doors sometimes. A byproduct of my forgetfulness at times. Anyways, you should get back. It’s getting dark.” Sojiro muses. "Futaba... it must have been a shock for her."

Yuki nods. “I’ll be heading out. I’ll see you tomorrow night, then.”

Yuki rushes back to the train platform, retracing her steps to Shiho’s house. She buzzes them to let her in and finds Ann and Shiho on the couch, watching TV.

Ann is the first to notice. “You’re back, huh. We’ve decided to postpone ordering until I get back. Maybe we’ll even go out to eat. Shiho’s mom left her with a stack of money for dinner, not that you or I don’t ourselves have stipends. You do have money, right?”

Yuki nods. “Parents left me with a bunch of money. Must be the profits from when I was an idol, along with a little extra thrown in.”

Ann gets up. “I guess I’m off; you were back quicker than I thought; I guess the trains are emptier, not that I need to take the train.” She walks up to Yuki and leans into her. “Watch Shiho, kay. I don’t know what happened, but it seems like what we talked about earlier brought up some bad memories.” She leans back out and heads to the door.

Ann waves. “I’ll be back, ladies!”

Yuki gives her a look of utter disbelief as she literally skips out the door. Yuki puts her duffel bag down and sits down on the couch.

Shiho sighs. “You’re back. Ann has been talking with me this whole time, but I felt that she was hiding something from me.”  
  


Yuki internally recoils and sighs. Ann had always been a bad actor, but surely Shiho hadn’t figured out…

Shiho turns to Yuki. “Yuki, you can tell me right. Ann was cheerily trying to deny it, but I… I know that you guys are up to something. Sakamoto-kun too.”

Yuki is completely in shock: how could she tell? Yuki thought she had the perfect poker face and alibi, but how…?

“You guys don’t want Kamoshida to get away with what he’s done? Just what are you guys thinking of doing?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, the standard disclaimer. The story is a work-in-progress. All published chapters is intended to be final after cursory proofreading, but there still may yet be some errors.
> 
> I welcome all feedback or criticisms.

**Author's Note:**

> In keeping with the canon name, I just simply swapped him out for a female, who occupies the exact same space as he does in his own timeline. However, there are many alternate worlds out there, with some of them also housing separate versions of him. In others, he is a female or an adult, or have better or worse circumstances than the timeline we all come to know and love.
> 
> Ren's an innocent dude. I know most of us - if we got suddenly put in a girl's body - would instantly try to do things best left unsaid. He's still a dude inside - but the shock has quashed any such desire - in the beginning. Later, he'll be more accustomed and used to this body and what it presents.
> 
> As all the Velvet Room Attendants are named after Frankenstein, I chose to follow that, naming this new attendant Felix. He'll be there in addition to Lavenza. As to why Igor needs two attendants this time around, we don't know why until the next chapter. Edit: It's just Ren being greedy and Igor being a cunt with choice. Also Lavenza followed him to this alternate reality. The prison has also been changed, though we won't know what it has become this time around.
> 
> As for relationships, well, now that he's in a girl's body, anyone would normally assume he's attracted to boys now due to hormones. No! Now, he is potentially bisexual, potentially being the emphasis. Since he used to be a dude, that attraction to females still lingers around but now he has to experience female arousal as a female himself. So she could be in a heterosexual relationship, a lesbian relationship, a heterosexual harem, a lesbian harem, or even a bisexual harem. (Imagine double the "oof" on Valentine's Day.)
> 
> Also, Yusuke is not weird in this timeline. Sorry. He's just too... occupied with females in this timeline.


End file.
